The Little Child to Lead Him
by BlueRosesAtMidnight
Summary: A Christmas visit to Harry's relatives set in motion a number of changes in his life... fatherhood being the largest. Eventually Harry and Daphne Greengrass.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey everyone! All right, this is gonna be quite a change from what I usually write in some ways I think. It's an idea that kinda popped into my head, no doubt influenced by other stories. I've seen a couple similar to this, but I did do my best not to directly copy anyone. If I did borrow someone's idea, (which I think tends to happen a lot, as so many people are so enamored by others stories that they can not help but use elements from them) then let me know and I'll give credit where it is due. Now, it's going to be a Harry-centric fic, starting sixth year and through to seventh. Not a lot happens in the sixth year. This will most likely will have some sort of pairing, though I not yet sure who will be the lucky girl. Also, this is non-HBP compliant, simply cause I like having Albus alive :-) So there. Now, to find out what else will happen, read on!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter One

"I don't see why I have to _go_ when I never have before," Harry grumbled sullenly at the elderly man sitting in front of him.

"Even though you defeated Voldemort, and most of the known death eaters have been captured, there are still those that would use you to aid them in goals less…savory…shall we say?" Albus smiled calmly at the young man in front of him. "As you are sixteen years old, and nearing the legal age, the protection your mother's sacrifice affords you wears thin more quickly. Hence the reason it is necessary for you to spend the Christmas holidays with your relatives."

"And there's no way I can avoid this?" Harry tried one last time.

"I'm sorry my dear boy, but I'm afraid not," he replied kindly. "Easter holidays as well."

"Can I go now?"

"Of course," Albus nodded as Harry stood and quickly left the room.

"Oy Harry, what'd the Headmaster want?" Ron yelled as Harry entered the common room. Lifting his head up to find where he was, Harry stomped over and threw himself into an empty chair.

"He wanted to tell me that I have to spend the holidays with the Dursleys," Harry all but growled as he let his head fall back against the chair.

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry," Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile. "But you know, you'll have plenty of time to study for finals there. With the NEWTS next year, we need to start reviewing the past years coursework _now_ if we want to be truly prepared!"

"He's not going to have time to study, he's going to be too busy pranking that fat arse of a cousin, right Harry?" Ron grinned.

"Well I have to use those tricks from the twins somehow, don't I?" Harry cracked a smile and began laughing with Ron, pushing the unpleasant news to the back of his mind…at least for the time being.

* * *

"Come, boy!" Vernon's voice carried across the platform.

"Right then," Harry barely glanced at his uncle, instead looking at his friends. "Have a good Christmas guys."

"You too Harry," Hermione embraced him quickly, kissing his cheek before releasing him and letting Ron move forward to shake his hand.

"See ya mate," Ron waved as Harry turned around and began pulling his trunk to where his uncle was standing impatiently.

"Hello Uncle Vernon," Harry greeted politely through clenched teeth. He would be civil if it killed him, which it just might. "Thank you for picking me up."

"Get in the car," was the only reply he gave. "And keep that bloody bird quiet."

The car ride back home was a quiet, tense affair, worse than usual. Harry didn't want to be going home any more than his relatives wanted him there. Yet here he was, being forced to spend three weeks with them. And to make things worse, it was Christmas, a time he usually loved. Some time later, they finally pulled into the driveway of number four Privet Drive, and Harry slowly unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out, going to the boot of the car to get his things.

"Now listen here _freak_," Vernon sputtered as Harry pulled his trunk towards the front door. "When we go in, you're to take that rubbish straight to Dudley's second room and then fix dinner. And above all, keep perfectly silent when you're upstairs."

"Fine, I've no problems cooking meals as long as I get to eat too, and aren't stuck with all chores," Harry shot back immediately, letting his wand slip into his hand as he twirled it slowly. He may be stuck there, but he was _not_ going to let them push him around. Not to mention he could always use magic. Defeating the dark lord will allow you special privileges, after all.

"Fine," Vernon grumbled his consent, eyeing the piece of wood all the while.

"And why do I have to be silent? Being quiet is one thing, but expecting complete silence is ridiculous," Harry demanded to know.

"Your aunt is pregnant, two months along, and it's a rough pregnancy, what with her not being as young as she was," Vernon answered after a moment's scrutiny, as if trying to determine Harry's motives for asking. Harry fought to keep from blanching at that statement, because in order for her to be pregnant, it meant that she and Vernon had…well, he just didn't want to think about it.

And with that said, Vernon opened the door, only to be accosted immediately by a whining Dudley who was demanding food. As Harry pushed past them and headed up the stairs, he could hear his uncle explaining that dinner would be ready as soon as 'the freak' cooked it. Harry grimaced as he listened to Dudley start whining about him having to come home for the break. Tuning them out, he dragged his trunk up the last few steps, down the hall, and into his room, which was Dudley's second bedroom as far as his relatives were concerned. Shutting the door behind him, he turned to survey the small room with a sigh, and no small degree of resentment towards the headmaster. He understood Dumbledore's reasoning, and he accepted it, but it didn't mean he had to like it. He shoved the trunk against the wall, wincing as it made a loud thump. He waited with baited breath for a few moments for his uncle to come bellowing up the steps, but nothing happened.

"Probably still trying to shut Dinky-duddy-dums up," Harry gave a derisive snort.

"So you're home for Christmas, are you?"

Harry whipped around to see his aunt standing in the doorway. She looked pale, but otherwise all right, and was tucking a heavy dressing gown tightly about her thin frame.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry stated the obvious, trying to keep a polite tone. "Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"Don't even pretend to care," she sneered at him as she leaned heavily against the doorframe. Harry, Gryffindor instincts kicking in, rushed over to wrap his arm around her waist, slowly walking her back to her bed, even with her protesting that she wasn't an invalid.

"I do care," Harry stated after she seemed to be settled. "I know we don't get along and that you could care less about me. Frankly, I feel the same way. But honestly? You're my mum's sister, and I feel obligated in some ways to help you. After all, even if you didn't really want to and you didn't do that great of a job at it, you did take me in and raise me."

She glared at him, but there wasn't any real menace in it. "Just like your father, Gryffindor to the bone. And yes, I know some about your school, no need to look so surprised. Your mother's incessant letters home to our parents that were read aloud at supper, were filled with details about it."

Harry didn't say anything; he didn't know how to respond to that. Luckily for him, his aunt closed her eyes, so Harry took that as his cue to leave, and headed downstairs to start making dinner, passing his Uncle who was on his way upstairs, no doubt to check on Petunia.

* * *

"Clean up those dishes," Vernon ordered the next morning as he prepared to go off to work.

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

"And make sure to keep an ear out for the bell. Anything she wants, you better get her, understand boy?"

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

"And take up a tray to her in a while."

"Yes Uncle Vernon," Harry rolled his eyes as he started washing up his plate.

"And have dinner on the table when I get home," he gave one last order before leaving the room.

"Yes Uncle Vernon, of course Uncle Vernon, anything you want Uncle Vernon," Harry muttered sarcastically under his breath, making faces as he washed up the dishes.

Finished with that ten minutes later, he fixed a tray for his aunt and quietly brought it up to her. Passing Dudley's room, he fought the urge to kick the door, and consequently, rudely wake him up. The only reason he didn't was because Dudley would sleep till the early afternoon, and then go out with friends for a few hours, come home for dinner, then go out again, staying out late into the morning. Being out so much meant that he didn't bother Harry, so Harry decided that, for the time being, he'd refrain from bothering Dudley.

Knocking lightly on the door, Harry waited for his aunt's call to come in before entering.

"Good morning Aunt Petunia," Harry greeted politely, setting the tray on the small bedside table.

Her reply was to promptly pale at the sight of the food, and then lean over and vomit into the trashcan.

"Get that away from me, and bring me some ginger tea and some saltines," she snapped as she wiped her mouth.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry nodded, and feeling rather generous, vanished the vomit with his wand before going back down to the kitchen.

"Thank you," she said through pursed lips as she took the mug and sipped at it, sighing as it went down soothingly.

"Are you okay?"

"Just morning sickness," she answered, and seeing the blank look on his face, explained further. "Pregnant women tend to get it during the first three months or so of pregnancy. It can last the entire nine months, and isn't limited to just the morning either. Miserable, really. Your mother was lucky she didn't have hardly any of it when she was carrying you."

"Really?" Harry looked surprised. Aunt Petunia had never offered up information about his mother before; at least not willingly.

"Oh yes, and I absolutely hated her for it too," she sneered slightly, biting into a saltine. "I had a fair case of it with Dudley, and was horribly envious that she was her usual perky self. And now of course, with this child, and my age being what it is, the morning sickness is quite terrible. This whole pregnancy is a pain…literally."

"I'm sorry," Harry gave her a sympathetic glance, not quite sure how to respond to that.

"What for?" She looked at him with some degree of curiosity. "It's not as if it's your fault I'm pregnant."

"Well no, but I can still be sorry you're sick, can't I?" Harry couldn't resist snapping back.

"Hmm, I suppose," she conceded, lifting a hand to rub her forehead. "Go away."

Harry did as she asked, and went to his room to do some homework. He also had some potions work he could probably work on, but he knew he'd put it off till the last minute since it was his least favourite subject. Even as he pulled out his charms and transfiguration texts, he could mentally hear Hermione berating him for putting it off. Laughing quietly to himself, he sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the bed, and propped open the charms book against his knees. He stayed like that for quite some time before a pounding on the door gave him cause to move.

"What do you want?"

"Where's my food?" Dudley gave him what he supposed was a menacing look. They were the same height, at just under six feet, though Dudley had a hundred fifty pounds more of weight on him. His boxing had helped him muscle up though, so while he was heavy, it was more of a firm sort of weight than blubbery fat like Vernon's. He still completely dwarfed Harry's thin, wiry-muscled frame though.

"Leftovers are in the fridge, where you can bloody well get it yourself," Harry crossed his arms over his chest, his wand once again in view in his hand, casually being twirled around.

"You're not allowed to do that-that…_freakishness_…out of school," Dudley stared at the wand, fear in his eyes.

"Oh really?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "Well you know, it seems I _can_ use it out of school. Just one of the perks of _killing_ a dark wizard and all that."

That was all the incentive Dudley needed to push back from the door and quickly move for the stairs. Harry chuckled as he thundered down the steps, and turned around to go back to his homework, but his stomach grumbling made him change his course of action, and instead follow his cousin downstairs to the kitchen to get some lunch.

* * *

For Harry, the next week passed much the same as the first day had. He'd ignore Uncle Vernon in the mornings as he fixed and ate breakfast, and then spend a few minutes in Aunt Petunia's room, delivering her the usual tea and saltines. He also found himself cleaning the trashcan on a fairly regular basis, even though he didn't see how she could keep vomiting when she had hardly anything in her in the mornings to begin with. He actually found the whole pregnancy thing kind of interesting, in a way. He even ordered '**What to Expect When You're Expecting a Magical Child**' from the bookstore in Diagon Alley…under a false name, of course. He knew it didn't really apply to Aunt Petunia, but he figured a lot of the basic concepts would be the same. His dorm mates would no doubt tease him if they knew, but he wanted a family someday, and figured why not a learn a little more about what his future wife would go through someday?

He found a good deal of the information in it to be quite interesting. Though of course, some of it was rather more descriptive than he cared to know, such as the actual birthing process. But earlier chapters that covered the trimesters of pregnancy, and the growth and development of the fetus were pretty neat. One thing he thought was kind of interesting that magical children often could do magic from inside the womb, to an extent. Nothing much, but little things, like emitting colourful lights that could be seen around the stomach, or causing small nearby objects to levitate a few centimeters. The fetus, especially in the second and third trimesters, could also project feelings of comfort, and affect the body chemistry to keep the mother perfectly cool or warm.

Christmas morning arrived with a flurry of owls pecking at his window. Family (the Weasleys), friends, schoolmates, and grateful members of the wizarding community had sent gifts. He soon had to simply leave the window open so he didn't have to keep getting off his bed to open it, the owls were that numerous. He separated the gifts into two piles; from people he knew, and people he didn't. The gifts from people he didn't know were put into a magically enlarged bag, and sent to an orphanage in Hogsmede with a brief note to the Headmistress of the orphanage, explaining the situation, and wishing all the children a happy holiday. That done, he turned his attention to the gifts from friends.

Hermione had sent him another broom servicing kit; one especially geared towards Firebolts. From the Weasleys, he received the usual sweater and sweets, as well as a Canon's poster and chocolate frogs from Ron, and a practice snitch from Ginny. Neville had sent him a magical miniature rose in a small pot, guaranteed to have different coloured blossoms year round. Harry looked closer at the plant to see that indeed, small yellow buds were almost ready to bloom. Another surprise gift was a necklace from Luna, quite unordinary in the fact it was a simple silver chain, but quite odd in the fact it had a bottlecap with some odd runes as a pendant. According to Luna's note, they'd protect him from mischievous Lugwumples, whatever those might be. He put it into his trunk with a laugh, along with his other gifts, though he ate a few frogs, and set the rose on the corner of the dresser.

"Happy Christmas," Harry greeted as he entered the kitchen to heat up brunch. He had cooked an egg dish, as well as some sweet rolls, the night before. It was just approaching noon according to the kitchen clock. He had been up for hours, dealing with all those owls while his relatives slept in.

"Humph," was the reply he got from his Uncle, though his Aunt gave him a half smile and a nod. Dudley was in the living room tearing open his gifts.

"Come with me," Petunia ordered Harry once they had finished breakfast. Vernon looked as if he wanted to stay for a moment, but Petunia waved him off, and he went to join Dudley.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked as he followed her from the kitchen. She was looking better this morning, and though she hadn't touched the egg dish, she had eaten a sweet roll. Though Harry was slightly disgusted that she had topped it with pickle relish before doing so, even though he had read pregnant women often had strange cravings.

"Just come on," she sighed exasperatedly, slowly making her way down into the little-used basement. It was really nothing more than a storage space, and rather filthy. Harry stood behind her on the steps as she pointed towards the far corner. "Back there, you'll find two trunks. I suppose now's as good a time as any to get rid of them, so they're yours. Do with them as you will."

"I don't understand," Harry looked between the corner and his aunt, wondering just what exactly she was doing.

"They belonged to your mother. One I know holds school belongings. She had left it at our parent's house while she and that husband of hers shopped for a house. She never got around to picking it up, so when they died, it came to me. The other…well, I suppose is best described as your baby chest. No doubt she was planning on giving it to you someday."

"Thank you Aunt Petunia," Harry barely managed to get out, so shocked was he.

"Well it's not as if I have any need for them. They're just taking up space," she brushed off his thanks. "Besides, they _are_ yours. Now enough sentimental nonsense; I'm going to join Vernon and Dudley, so don't bother us."

Harry didn't bother answering as he was still trying to grasp the concept that he had been given two precious gifts from his aunt; trunks that held items of his mother's. More ties to a woman he hardly knew. Still fixated on the trunks, he walked down the last few steps and carefully made his way over to the trunks. They were both dusty with age, one large and one smaller. Pulling his wand out, he quickly rid them of the dust, and then levitated them, bringing them around front of him as he quickly made his way upstairs to his room. Setting them down on the floor, he decided to open the large trunk that held his mother's school things first.

He had to admit it was somewhat disappointing to find that it held textbooks mainly. There were a few perfect-grade papers, her Hogwarts letters, and the letter informing her of her prefect status, as well as the head girl letter. One thing of interest he found was her yearbook; and he spent some time looking at pictures of his parents, Sirius, and Remus. Once done, he put the yearbook into his trunk, and turning back to his mother's trunk, closed it back up. Pushing it aside, he turned his attention to the smaller trunk that his aunt said held baby items. Opening it, he found himself laughing at the items on top; a toddler broom, as well as a small snitch-shaped rattle. Picking them up, he could almost hear his mum yelling at his dad, saying that he was entirely too young to be riding a broom. Putting those aside, he moved onto the next items which were several pieces of clothing; almost frighteningly tiny shirts, pants, shoes, and his favourite, a tiny green wizard's robe with his name embroidered on the front with a small family crest. He also found such items as a birth certificate, a hospital bracelet from St. Mungo's, and a card with his tiny baby footprint inked onto it.

He continued to pull out other items like a tiny jar holding a lock of hair, a baby blanket knitted for him by his grandmother, and a small bib. Also putting those aside, he fought back tears as he came to the last items in the trunk. First there was a small stuffed dog that looked almost uncannily like Padfoot, and was obviously well loved. Second was a small gold baby bracelet with the inscription '_Baby Prongs_' on the inside, followed by a tiny wolf paw. Harry knew it must have been from Remus, just like the dog was from Sirius. And lastly, a green photo album with the writing '_Harry's Baby Book_' on the front. Taking it out, he got off his knees, climbed onto the bed, and crossing his legs, opened the album.

His eyes were immediately drinking in each and every detail of the photos, all with little captions underneath them. The first page held several pictures, showing his mum in various stages of pregnancy; two months, four months, six, seven, eight, and finally, nine months along. The second page showed his mum, looking exhausted but happy, with a rather slimy looking Harry lying on her stomach. The next pictures made him smile, as they showed a cleaner Harry being held by his dad, and then by Sirius and Remus. The next picture showed a picture of his dad holding him, standing next to another man also holding a newborn, both looking almost ridiculously happy. Looking at the caption, he was surprised to see that it was Neville and his father. The pictures continued to imprint themselves in his memory; first nursing, first smile, first bottle feeding, first bath, first sign of magic. Just dozens of 'firsts' moments that all parents can't help but photograph. And Harry was quite glad for what might be deemed as obsessive photographing on his parents behalf. Now, with the invisibility cloak and photo album from Hagrid, he had other ties to his parents. Thinking of the first album from Hagrid made him walk over to his trunk and pull out the first pictures of his parents he had ever gotten, and look through those yet again. He never tired of looking at them.

He looked up at the clock he had fixed and placed on the bedside table, and was surprised to see he had spent the entire afternoon, as well as the evening, looking through the trunks and photo albums. Seeing as it was almost twenty two o'clock, he was feeling quite hungry, and putting aside the album from Hagrid, got to his feet and quietly walked downstairs. He was surprised to see a light on in the kitchen, and looking around the doorframe, sighed in relief upon seeing his aunt. They had formed a hesitant truce of sorts over the past several days, that while still awkward, was slowly becoming somewhat more amiable.

"Well are you just going to stand there all night, or are you going to come in and get some food?" Petunia's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "I can hear your stomach growling from here."

"Sorry," he grinned sheepishly as he padded into the kitchen and grabbed a sweet roll from the fridge, and poured a glass of milk before sitting down. "Can't sleep?"

"Hungry," she answered, gesturing to the bowl of oatmeal that appeared to have ketchup on it.

"Does that _really_ taste good?" Harry looked dubious.

"No, it tastes absolutely disgusting," she took another bite. "But I had the oddest craving for it, so while it's nasty, it's also quite satisfying. I think it's a rite of passage for all pregnant women to have the most abominable cravings possible."

"I can imagine," Harry grinned, picturing all kinds of nasty food combinations. They lapsed into a somewhat awkward silence, as they still weren't truly all that comfortable with each other. Harry finished up his sweet roll and milk, and put the dishes in the sink. "Night Aunt Petunia."

"Good night," she responded quietly around a spoonful of oatmeal. "I suppose I'll see you when you're back for Easter?"

Harry nodded, and fought a chuckle at the sight of his usually prim and proper aunt sitting in a dressing gown, hair frizzy, no make-up, while eating oatmeal doused in ketchup. Turning around he headed back upstairs to go to sleep. As he climbed into bed, he couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, this break hadn't been completely horrible after all.

* * *

A/N: Review please? If you're so inclined of course. This was more of a prologue than anything else; a way of setting of the story for the good stuff. Next chapter will cover the Easter break, and then the start of summer. It'll be up in a week- none earlier. I'm back at college and settling in, and classes start Monday, so I'll be busy. So, again, let me know what you think! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey y'all, thanks for the reviews! Here's the next chappie for you.

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Two

The months between the end of Christmas holidays and the beginning of Easter holidays passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye, at least as far as Harry was concerned. It was also, in his opinion, quite boring in some ways. As glad as he was that Voldemort and his deatheaters were gone, he also had no idea what to do with himself. Every year, for the past five years, he had had to face him in some way, and without him, Harry found himself at a loss as to what to do. He was no longer needed to be the saviour of the wizarding world. And he didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life either, so as of now, his main purpose consisted of simply going through the motions at school, and taking exams. And of course, fighting off girls. Especially with him being "The Boy Who Conquered the Dark Lord", girls were trying to attract his attention even more than before. And while the attention was somewhat flattering, he didn't want to be with a girl who only wanted him for his money and fame, which were the goals of the girls.

The first day of Easter holidays arrived, and after packing, Harry joined a number of sixth and seventh years in walking down to the edge of Hogwarts' grounds to apparate home. Like most of the sixth years, he had learned to apparate, and gotten his license. So once again with a quick good-bye to his friends, he disappeared with a near-silent pop. He reappeared in the small bedroom that was his while he was at number four Privet Drive a moment later, stumbling against the door in a rather noisy arrival.

"WHO'S THERE!" A slightly frightened voice echoed in the hall.

"Just me Aunt Petunia," Harry stepped into the hall to see his Aunt standing there, looking decidedly pregnant to him.

"Oh…" she frowned. "That jumping from place to place thing."

"Apparition," Harry nodded, still staring at her swollen stomach with no small degree of awe. The fact that a baby was growing inside was just something incredible that he couldn't quite wrap his mind around. He had never been around babies, or young children at all for that matter, and found them both fascinating and intimidating at the same time. "How far along are you?"

"Nearly six months," she replied, looking surprised that he asked. She suddenly placed a hand on her stomach, gasping.

"What, what's wrong!"

"Nothing. Just the baby kicking. She'll be a dancer, mark my words."

"She?" Harry stared at her stomach again.

"Yes, it's a girl," Petunia smiled softly, rubbing her hand over her stomach. She looked up at Harry questioningly for a moment. "Would you like to feel?"

"Can I?" Harry's face lit up, and Petunia couldn't hold back a laugh.

"Yes, you can," she nodded, and reached out and grabbed his hand, placing it on her lower stomach. She watched the look of awe that crossed his face as the baby conveniently kicked a few more times. It was nice, she had to admit to herself, to have someone to share in the excitement with her. Dudley was rarely home, and couldn't care less, except to wonder if he'd still get plenty of presents at holidays, and Vernon…well, he cared, but he worked, and just really didn't want to bother with a lot of details once he found out it was going to be a girl. He'd been hoping for another son. Petunia had to admit that she was quite excited it was going to be a girl however.

"That's incredible," Harry breathed, pulling back, still staring at her stomach in wonder.

"It is, isn't it?" Petunia shared a smiled with him.

"Yeah," Harry nodded absently, still amazed with what he had felt. "I wonder if I was really wiggly for my mum."

"She said you gave her butterflies, and that you'd be a natural flier," Petunia shook her head.

"Really?" Harry looked surprised, and confused. "I didn't know you talked. I thought you always said that once she started going to school, you pretended you didn't have a sister?"

"For the first couple of years yes, but as we got older, I realised I was holding a silly grudge. However, when she started going on about Voldemort killing people, I became frightened, and so once again, I ignored anything dealing with the magical world. It was also around that time that I met Vernon, so it was easy to focus my attention on him and ignore Lily. I didn't keep in contact with her; what little I know about how she did with you was from the letters she had written to our parents, that they then passed on to me."

"Oh," Harry looked down at his feet. "Is that why you hate me so much?"

"Yes," Petunia said simply, walking into her bedroom to lie down. Harry followed her when she motioned for him to do so, and waited as she got comfortable. "Though hate is a rather strong word. We didn't _truly_ hate you, or at least I didn't. Vernon and Dudley probably do though. It was more that we feared you, and the world you were tied to. And we weren't prepared for you. You have to understand that we already had Dudley then, just a few months older than you. Babies were expensive, and we had spent most of our available money on him since he was our first born, as do most parents. Add in the fact that Vernon had just started working at Grunnings for a very small salary, and we were overwhelmed with the aspect of having to take in another infant. Not to mention the letter your Headmaster left with us was how I learned that Lily was dead, and it was because of _her_ that _you_ were alive. I had always loved her, so I admit I resented you even more upon reading that."

"I understand," Harry nodded, looking thoughtful.

"I don't know if it counts for anything, but I am sorry," she reached a hand out as if to lay a comforting hand on his arm, but let it fall to lie on the bed. "I could have done better by you. Like giving you a room, or decent clothing."

"The cupboard was kinda cool," Harry tried to soothe her, as she appeared to be getting upset. "I mean, how many kids can say they got to sleep in a cupboard under the stairs? It was kinda like a little hideout…a fort, if you will. As for the clothes, yeah, maybe so, but they weren't that bad, except for the fact that they were too big for me. They were clean and all, and that's better than I might've got at an orphanage or something. You did what you did, and it's in the past. Please don't feel guilty Aunt Petunia. I'm fine, I'm not emotionally scarred from it, and I've grown into a typical teenager."

"Good," she sniffed a couple of times. "Hormones, you know."

"Yeah," he chuckled softly, and impulsively leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "I'll go make you some tea."

"And some wheat toast with mustard and raspberry preserves!" Petunia called after him as he headed downstairs.

Harry blanched as he heard that. "Merlin, I think that beats the lot of nasty things she's craved." Shaking his head, he continued downstairs. Coming back up a few minutes later, tea and toast on a tray, he walked back in to see his aunt reading book of baby names.

"If you were having a girl, what would you name her?" Petunia asked as she took the toast, happily biting into it. "Or do boys not really think about having children and such? Dudley isn't the best representative of the male teenage population."

"I've thought about kids and all. I mean, I know I want to have a bunch," Harry nodded, sitting in the chair by her bed. "But, no, I can't say I've ever though too much about names."

"Oh. Well what do you think of the name Rhosymedre? It means lovely. I don't know that it's actually a name, but it's the title of a favourite piece of music of mine."

"Rhosymedre…I like it. It's different, and pretty sounding. And you could call her Rose for short, since you and mum both had flowery names," Harry grinned.

"It's not my fault that my mother was absolutely _obsessed_ with gardening," Petunia laughed. "Though I suppose that's where I get _my_ love of gardening from. Your mother hated it, but she was a witch, so I suppose she could magic flowers up if she wanted."

"To an extent yeah, but herbology, which is growing and caring for plants, usually can't be done with a lot of magic," Harry explained. "Magic can affect certain properties of the plants sometimes, so most of what we do has to be done by hand."

"What else do you study?"

"Are you sure you want to hear?" Harry looked surprised. "I thought you were afraid of magic."

"Well that Voldemort character's gone right? So there's no need for me to fear your world so much," Petunia pointed out. "And since we're trying to work on our relationship, it seems to me that it'd be a good idea to take more of an interest in your life. And as long as Vernon doesn't find out, it should be just fine."

"I'd like that," Harry smiled. "Well, my favourite class is Defense Against the Dark Arts…"

And so Harry spent the next hour talking with his aunt about his classes. His aunt, of course, didn't understand a great deal, but still listened attentively and asked many questions. Harry appreciated the fact that she was making an effort to involve herself in his life. She was trying to make up for all the years of neglect, and fill the roll of a parent, in a way. And while it was too little, too late in some ways, he couldn't help but enjoy the motherly-type of interest.

"Hey Aunt Petunia, what was my mum like when you two were growing up?" Harry asked hesitantly. She opened her mouth to answer, but just as she did, they could hear Vernon's car pull into the driveway.

"We'll talk tomorrow," she assured him as he stood up.

"Thank you," he smiled, and quickly headed into his room and pulled out a textbook before flopping onto the bed. This was how Uncle Vernon found him a few minutes later.

"So you're home again _freak_," Vernon sneered, his huge body filling the doorway, and then some.

"Only for a week _Uncle_," Harry's voice nearly dripped with disdain. "Then you'll be rid of me till the summer."

"You had just better not bother your aunt while you're hear, or I'll know why," Vernon threatened lamely, and continued on to see his wife.

* * *

"Are we clear to talk?"

"Yeah," Harry looked up to see his aunt standing in the doorway. "Dudley just left."

"Good," she nodded, satisfied, and entered, perching on his bed. "Oh, here. You can keep this one."

"Oh wow, is this a sonogram of Rhosymedre?" He asked, staring at the sonogram picture he was handed.

It was his last day there, and he was almost sad to be going. The week had flown by with all the talks he and his aunt had been having, a lot of which were about his mother as a girl, which he loved. They'd also done a good deal of bonding over the baby, and even done a bit of clothes shopping for her one day, when Petunia was feeling up to it. Harry had to admit it was kind of fun to pick out the tiny outfits that seemed better suited for dolls than babies.

"Yes that's her, Rhosymedre Elizabeth. How'd you know what this was?"

"I like it, it'll suit her. As for the sonogram…I uh, kinda ordered a book called '**What to Expect When You're Expecting a Magical Child**' from the bookstore in Diagon Alley. Not exactly the same as for you, but I wasn't about to go to the library and check that out! You being pregnant and all got me kinda curious as to what women go through."

"Really? I wonder how normal and magical pregnancies differ? Lily seemed to go through the same things as I did."

"Well, the book said there really _weren't_ a lot of differences, except for a few signs of magic from the fetus," Harry recalled as he dug through his trunk to find the book. "Like emitting colourful lights that can be seen around the stomach, or causing small nearby objects to levitate a few centimeters. And the fetus can also make the mother feel perfectly warm or cool."

"Colourful lights, you say?" Petunia's voice was suddenly high-pitched and tinny, with no small amount of fear.

Harry whipped around to see what was wrong, and his eyes widened in shock. "Yeah, lights…like…that."

"Oh no," Petunia whimpered, her face deathly pale, as she stared at her stomach which was emitting red and white lights. "Oh no, no, no. She can't be a witch! Vernon'll kill her! He'll kill me!"

"AUNT PETUNIA!" Harry yelled, smacking his aunt lightly across the face. Not enough to hurt her or leave a mark, but enough to shock her back to reality. "He will do nothing of the sort."

"But what am I going to do!"

"What you're going to do is keep this to yourself. Don't tell him. You're due in July, right?"

"The fifteenth is the projected date."

"Well, you're just going to wait to tell him till I come home for the summer at the end of June," Harry told her. "Then I'll be here to protect you if he blows up or anything. All right?"

"But what if I go into labor early?"

"Then I'll send you a charmed device that you can use to contact me if you need me," Harry promised, thinking of the galleons Hermione had charmed his fifth year.

"Okay," Petunia nodded, taking a couple deep breaths. She also gave a sigh of relief as the lights faded away.

"For now though, why don't you keep this?" Harry suggested, handing over the magical baby book. "This should answer any questions you'll have I think. If not, I'll be writing you this summer, so you can always ask me questions through the letters, and then in turn I can find information at school for you. You can do this."

"I can do this," Petunia repeated, a little colour coming back into her cheeks. "But what do I do if the lights happen again?"

"Well you know Uncle Vernon can be completely oblivious to things if he doesn't want to believe them. So let's say the lights do happen again, all you have to do is tell him he was imagining things. And he'll believe it because he wants to, plain and simple."

"Yes…he always was a bit slow on the uptake, poor Vernon."

"Aunt Petunia, can I ask _why_ you married him?"

"He was a good man Harry," Petunia sighed. "He still is. He's just very…scared…I suppose is the best word."

"Scared!" Harry scoffed. "What on earth does he have to be scared of? He's humungous and imposing, and I'm sorry, but very much of a bully."

"_Magic_. He's scared of it, and he resents it. Your father and his friends played some pranks on him the one time I got up the nerve to go visit her. Nothing harmful, but humiliating and somewhat scary, especially when he wasn't used to it."

"What?"

"Yes, that's why he hates you. You remind him a great deal of your father, and the threats to write to your godfather didn't help either," Petunia winced. "I hadn't known until he told me he told me once, the night you arrived on our doorstep. He was so adamant about taking you straight away to an orphanage, but I kept saying no until he told me why. To this day he pretends as if that conversation never happened. I'm sure he'd be absolutely furious if he knew I'd told you, but I think it might help you to better understand his actions. Not that it really excuses his behaviour towards you."

"I understand," Harry nodded, his mind racing. His father and Sirius had pranked him? Well that certainly did explain a lot.

"Now be sure to not mention a word of this to him," Petunia was quick to tell him. "You know how he'd react."

"Yes Aunt Petunia," Harry assured her, giving her a smile as he left. It was almost dinner time, and Vernon would be home soon, and expecting a hot meal on the table. As Harry liked cooking, he didn't mind doing the meals while he was home, especially as it saved Aunt Petunia from doing it, or having to eat whatever Vernon tried to cook.

"BOY! IS DINNER READY?" Vernon's ape-like holler rang through the house as the door slammed shut behind him.

"Yes Uncle Vernon," Harry rolled his eyes as he answered. It was all because of his Uncle that he was glad to be going home in the morning, even if he now understood the reason behind his Uncle's actions and behaviour towards him.

"That's it! I've had enough of your attitude- get out!" Vernon bellowed as he waddled into the kitchen.

"Happy to, even though I'm doing it because _I'm_ sick of _you_," Harry sneered at him, and pushing past him, stormed upstairs to grab his things.

"Leaving?" Petunia gave him a sad smile as she stood in his doorway, having heard the conversation downstairs.

"Yeah. I've gotten the whole blood-protection renewed anyways by now, so leaving now won't matter," Harry shrugged, having shrunk his things and stuffed them in his pocket.

"Well, stay safe," she bid him farewell.

"You too," he nodded, and disapparated with a pop. He re-appeared a few moments later on the outskirts of Hogsmede, and made his way into the Three Broomsticks.

"Hello dear, what can I get you?" Madame Rosmerta gave him a kind smile from behind the bar.

"Just a room for the night, and some dinner please," he handed over some galleons.

"Of course," she took a key from under the bar and handed it to him. "Room three, and there'll be a plate of food waiting when you get there."

"Wow."

"House elves dear," she laughed at the look of surprise. "I have two who do the cooking and cleaning. I just tend the bar and customers. Now off with you. You look like you could use the hot meal and a good nights rest."

"Thanks again," he nodded, and headed up the stairs that were nearly hidden by shadows in the corner of the room, to the left of the bar.

Once in the room, he un-shrunk his things, and then sat at the small table to wolf down his food, followed by a mug of pumpkin juice. Stripping off his shirt and kicking off his shoes, he fell on to the bed, and into a deep sleep nearly immediately.

Awaking the next morning, he woke slowly, not making any effort to move from the bed. Turning his head to glance at the grandfather clock in the corner, he was surprised to see it was almost ten o'clock. Groaning at the thought of leaving the rather comfortable bed, he pushed himself up and swung his legs over the side. He stood, lazily stretching his arms above his head, and walked into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he dressed, grabbed his things, and headed downstairs.

"Good morning," Madame Rosmerta looked up as he stepped off the bottom stair.

"Morning Madame Rosmerta," he nodded to her, handing over the key.

"Anything for breakfast?"

"I'll just eat at the castle," he shook his head. "Thanks though."

"Of course dear," she smiled.

Harry bid her goodbye, and left the pub, heading farther into Hogsmede to a little jewellery shop he had heard some of the girls talk about. Walking inside, he greeted the clerk there, a little old man, and began to look around.

"Can I help ye with anything?"

"I need to find something that I can cast a communication charm on for my aunt," Harry answered. "For emergencies, if she ever needed to get in touch with me."

"Well I have some fairly priced pendants here," the man moved to a cabinet, and Harry followed. "And for an additional fee, I can cast a charm that would fit your needs. You pick a trigger word, and if she says it, than the companion piece will vibrate against your skin."

"Companion piece?"

"Yes. Either you can bring something in, or buy something, so I can charm them to work in conjunction with one another."

"Well I'll take this one for here," Harry picked out a small opal pendant. "But do you have anything less…girly…for me to look at?"

"Of course, just two cabinets down. I'll go ahead and box this up for you while you look."

"Thanks," Harry smiled before moving two cabinets down. Looking over the various pendants within, he found himself intrigued by a rectangular shaped one with lines on the front. "Excuse me sir, but what's this?"

"That is a gold pendant with Ogham runes on it, spelling out the word serenity. Ogham is a Celtic rune, written using combinations of five lines intersecting one long one, as you can see."

"I think I like it," Harry grinned as the man took it out for him, and helped him clasp it around his neck. "I'll take it."

"I'll just ring it up for you, and you can wear it out…if that's agreeable to you?"

"Sure, thanks," Harry nodded, handing over his Gringotts card, which was connected to his account.

Once he had gotten his card back and signed the receipt, he took the small cloth bag that held the opal pendant, and headed down the street for the post office. Writing out a quick note explaining the pendant, and letting her know the activation code, Hogwarts, he tied it to a small brown owl's leg, and sent it off to his aunt. Satisfied that she'd be all right till he got home for the summer, he made sure he had all his things, and walked over to the train station. Unshrinking 'Quidditch Through the Ages', he sat down on a bench and started reading it, yet again. Some time later, his reading was disturbed by Hagrid's booming voice.

"What yeh got there Harry?" Hagrid walked over and clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Just quidditch," he grinned up at his friend. "What are you doing Hagrid?"

"Jus' came down to pick up one o' the carriages. It needed a wheel fixed, and Dewel's there, beyond Zonkos, is the best at 'em, magic or no," Hagrid gestured to the shrunk carriage in his pocket. "Then it's back to the school to hook up the thestrals so I can bring 'em down before the express gets here. Say, yeh want to help? I know they like you."

"Sure," Harry shrugged, shrinking his book once more. He had liked the thestrals, and thought them to be rather neat.

"Yeh have a good break?" Hagrid asked as they started back up to the school.

"Not too bad. You?" Harry returned politely, and Hagrid immediately launched into an excited explanation of some new creatures he had gotten for class

"What do yeh say Harry?"

"Sure Hagrid," Harry said automatically, having ignored the last five minutes of conversation.

"Great! I'll see you after dinner then to show you what to do," Hagrid beamed at him, and Harry gave a mental groan, wondering what he had gotten himself into. "Now, for the thestrals, we just need to hook these harnesses to the carriages, and then slip _this_ part over their heads, and clip it to the carriage harnesses. Then we'll walk 'em back down to the station."

"Got it," Harry nodded, and grabbing a harness off the wall of the large stable they were in, walked over to one of the carriages and hooked it on. Turning to the line of thestrals, he walked over to one stall and opened the door, entering slowly. He held out a hand, palm up, and let the thestral sniff him. Once the thestral had lipped his hand, Harry stroked his neck a few times before slipping the harness over his head, and leading him out of the stall. Clipping the harness to the carriage, the thestral whinnied, before pulling the carriage out of the stable to stand in line behind the one that Hagrid had just finished harnessing.

With both of them working, it didn't take too long before they were all hooked up. Hagrid moved down the line, checking them all over one last time before moving to the head of the line to lead them down to Hogsmede.

"Hop on Harry, they won't mind," he called back before starting to walk.

"Is that all right?" Harry asked the thestral he was standing next to. It nodded, and bent its legs so Harry could climb up more easily. Harry scrambled onto its back quickly, just before the carriage in front of him started to move. Holding onto its mane, Harry settled himself comfortably on its back, being careful of the wings as he did so. He made a note to himself to buy a horse or thestral someday, as he had decided they were fun to ride.

"Perfect timing," Hagrid pointed to the smoke rising in the distance; undoubtedly from the Hogwarts express.

"Hey, can I just stay on this one?"

"Babbitt? Oh sure, he don' mind none," Hagrid patted the thestral on the head as he walked past, headed towards the end of the platform near the lake to be ready for the first years. "I'll see you after dinner tonight Harry!"

"Harry, what are you doing!" Hermione ran over to him, Ron right behind her.

"Riding Babbitt, one of the thestrals," he grinned at the looks on some of the students' faces. Those who hadn't seen death saw him sitting on nothing but air, so understandably they looked confused and amazed.

"Babbitt?" Ron wrinkled his nose.

"Hagrid named them. I was helping him harness them earlier."

"No, I meant what are you doing here, and why weren't you on the express?" Hermione repeated, annoyed with Ron for interrupting her.

"I spent last night in Hogsmede. My uncle got angry and threw me out," Harry shrugged.

"Oh Harry," Hermione gave him a pitying look.

"Really Mione, it's not a big deal. Besides, it wasn't a bad week, the last night aside. Now," Harry continued before she could speak, "climb in the carriage so we can get moving. I don't know about you two, but I'm getting hungry."

* * *

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and soon exams were on them. Harry and Ron of course had left all studying till the last minute, while Hermione could probably take and pass the NEWTS with flying colours. Ginny was stressed out over OWLS, and would bat-bogey hex anyone who attempted to talk to her. They came and went though, and most everyone's worrying was for naught as they went rather smoothly. And before they knew it, it was the end of the year feast, and consequently, the end of their sixth year.

* * *

A/N: All right, that's it for this chappie. Next chapter will have the end of school and the beginning of summer holidays. Hope you liked this one. Again, I know it may seem a bit jumpy, and somewhat rushed, and it is, but that's because I want to get to summer hols, and this is basically a giant prologue that's setting up the main plot and all. So thanks for baring with me, and let me know what you thought, if you're so inclined. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews y'all! Here's the third chapter.

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Three

"Oh have a good summer Harry!" Hermione threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"You too Mione," he laughed at her exuberance, returning the hug.

"We'll see you by your birthday, hopefully before," Ron promised, also giving him a hug.

"I hope so. Unless Dumbledore decides it's necessary for me to stay the whole summer and all that," Harry griped. "Honestly. You'd think that since I defeated old Moldy-warts, that would suggest I can handle a couple of death eaters. Though all of them were rounded up, so again, I shouldn't even need the blood protection anymore."

"It never hurts to make sure," Hermione insisted. "Professor Dumbledore is just looking out for you, you know. Besides, it's your last summer there, so you might as well take advantage of that protection while you can."

"Yes Mum," he replied jokingly, and received a smack on the arm in return.

"We'll owl you in a few days then mate," Ron waved before walking over to the floo line where Ginny was waiting. Hermione gave him another quick hug before crossing through the gateway to meet her parents waiting on the other side.

Harry sighed as he stared at the gate; on one hand he was dreading having to deal with his cousin and uncle for the summer, but on the other hand, he was actually anticipating seeing his aunt, and eventually, the baby when she was born. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was about time for him to meet his uncle. Grabbing hold of his things, he dragged them out through the gateway, and was immediately greeted with the sight of his uncle, tapping his foot impatiently as he glared at the arch between platforms nine and ten. Upon seeing Harry emerge, he jerked his head toward the exit before walking to it. Harry was left to deal with his things by himself, not that it was terribly difficult.

At nearly seventeen, he had grown into a good-looking guy. His hair was the same, short, unruly black mass, but it suited him. The glasses were still there, though he had magicked the lenses so they were actually the right prescription, and transfigured the frames to a thinner, rectangular shape that better suited his face. He had stopped growing at just under six feet, and had a thin, wiry, muscled frame from all his years of playing quidditch.

Once again, the ride home was silent, which suited Harry fine. And again, once they arrived at the house, he was left to bring his things in himself. As he started to head upstairs, he caught sight of his Aunt in the kitchen. Knowing his uncle was in there, Harry didn't bother saying anything to her, knowing he'd get a chance the next day. Once in his room, he opened the window and unlocked Hedwig's cage so she could fly out into the darkening sky.

* * *

"Merlin, you're fat," was the first words out of Harry's mouth when he entered the kitchen early the next morning and saw his aunt properly for the first time, standing at the stove. Harry immediately blushed and hurried to apologise. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean that how it sounded."

"I understand," she laughed as she ran a hand over her bulging stomach. "I'm very pregnant looking I know. Eight and a half months along. She could come anytime now."

"Can I?" Harry gestured to her stomach, and she nodded. He knelt in front of her, placing his hands on the taut skin of her stomach after she pulled up her shirt. He smiled as she began kicking, and Harry felt a sudden warmth under his hands as a few coloured balls of light suddenly began to circle his hands.

"She only does that when I go into your room, or when you're around," Petunia informed him. "I think she can sense the magic in you."

"Wow, I can really feel her kicking," Harry looked up at her in amazement. "That's so cool."

"Yes, she's quite active, and I can hardly wait for her to come. Due date is the fifteenth, but she could come earlier or later."

"Maybe she'll come on my birthday," Harry gave an impish grin.

"I hope not! Being pregnant in the summer is not fun, so I most certainly do not want her to hang out for another two weeks."

"At least you won't be pregnant with her through August. Isn't that the worst time since it's the hottest month of the year?"

"Yes. Though when you're pregnant, June and July don't feel any better. And this little one likes the heat apparently," Petunia sighed, fanning herself with a laugh. "How was school?"

"It's school," Harry shrugged. "I think I did all right on my finals. Potions is probably my worst, but I'll see how I did. Snape hates me."

"Severus Snape?"

"Yeah, how d'you know him?"

"He and your mother were friends. Potion partners for a time too, I think," Petunia looked thoughtful. "I'm not really very sure."

"That's all right," Harry shrugged. "Need any help with breakfast?"

"I've already started the eggs if you want to get the bacon going, or the toast," she gestured with her head to the eggs sitting in a bowl on the counter.

"Sure," Harry nodded, and began cracking the eggs into a frying pan, moving it onto a burner and turning it on. From above they heard a thump.

"Vernon's awake," Petunia shared a conspiratorially look with Harry, giggling.

"Or Dudley."

"No, definitely Vernon. I have slept with him for almost nineteen years," she giggled again when Harry made a face. "His is a very distinctive thump. Not to mention that our bedroom is over the kitchen, and Dudley's is over the living room."

Harry nodded, and they finished cooking up the rest of the food in silence. Petunia sat down and began sipping at a cup of tea as Harry set the food out, just before Vernon came down. Harry fought back a sigh as his Uncle sat down and began eating, writing out a list of chores for Harry for the day. Knowing that Harry could use his wand kept him from assigning too many, but there were still a good number of them.

"Is that all?" Harry managed to keep his tone polite.

"Yes," Vernon snapped as he stood up. "Stay out of my sight for the rest of the bloody summer, and the minute you turn seventeen, you're out of this house."

"Gladly," Harry muttered under his breath as his uncle left the kitchen. A moment later they heard the front door slam shut, and the car drive away.

"I'm sorry," Petunia said softly, looking down at her tea.

"I was planning on leaving then anyways," Harry shrugged, brushing off her apology.

"Will you…" she paused.

"What?"

"Will you keep in touch…at least sometimes?" She looked up at him, hopeful. "As Rhosymedre grows up, I know I'm going to want to talk to you about the magical aspects of her life. Especially as she gets closer to turning eleven. I assume she's going to go to Hogwarts too."

"I'm sure she is," Harry nodded. "If she's got any kind of magic, she'll go there, since it's closest."

"That's good to know-OH!" Petunia's voice rose sharply as she suddenly gasped, her hands flying to her stomach. "My water broke!"

"What, now!" Harry rushed over to her. "But your due date isn't for another two weeks I thought?"

"They're _suggested_ due dates, I'm sure you read. Babies usually ignore them all-together, and come when they choose," Petunia breathed more easily as the contraction passed. "Call Grunning's please, and leave a message for Vernon to go to the hospital."

Harry quickly did as he was told, and instructed the secretary that picked up to let Vernon know as soon as he came in that Petunia had gone into labour. "All right, what now?"

"Call 999 and have an ambulance sent over," she directed, and Harry once again hastened to obey her instructions. "Good, now since the hospital is not too far, it shouldn't be long. Just grab the small suitcase by the door and keep it with you, since I'm sure you'd forget it otherwise."

"Are you doing okay?" Harry asked anxiously as he sat back down, suitcase in hand.

"Yes," she gave him a small smile as she finished writing a note for Dudley, who had spent the night at a friend's. "I have done this before, you mustn't forget. I had a completely natural childbirth with Dudley. This one I'll be getting an epidural to ease the birthing, since I'm not as young as I was."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes, as it'll help with the pain, but then again no, as sometimes different drugs can affect the baby, and delay their reactions when they're first born," Petunia's face scrunched up as another contraction hit.

"Another one?" Harry glanced at the clock. "But it's only been, like, seven minutes!"

"She's just a great deal more eager than I suspected to greet the world," Petunia panted as the doorbell rang.

Harry ran to answer it, and led them into the kitchen. They helped her onto the gurney, and into the ambulance. As there was no room, Harry had to stay behind. He waved as the doors closed on his aunt, and as soon as the ambulance had turned out of sight, he ran back into the house. Making sure everything was locked and that there were no appliances left on in the kitchen, he grabbed the small suitcase and ran upstairs to grab his broom. Throwing on his invisibility cloak, and casting a charm on it to keep it from blowing up, he hopped on his broom, and zoomed off in the direction the ambulance had gone. Catching up to it, he followed it to the hospital. As he landed down in a park just down the block from the entrance, he glanced around for nearby people. Seeing none, he shrunk his broom and put it in his pocket, and then removed and shrunk his cloak, sticking it in his other pocket.

"Excuse me, but my aunt was just brought in, she's having a baby. Can you tell me where she was taken?" Harry asked the bored-looking woman at the front desk.

"Third floor, east wing," she replied not looking up from her magazine.

"Thanks," Harry called over his shoulder as he walked over to the elevator. Waiting for it to come down, familiar voices sounded behind him, and he turned to see Vernon and Dudley walk in. They walked over, bypassing the desk when they saw him.

"She upstairs boy?" Vernon asked gruffly, though Harry could see concern and apprehension in his eyes.

"Yeah, the ambulance just brought her a couple minutes ago," he nodded, stepping into the elevator when the doors opened. "She's in the east wing of the third floor."

Vernon just nodded, and tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator began moving upwards. Dudley had a set of headphones on, and was listening to some sort of obnoxious sounding music, and looking utterly bored with the whole situation. Harry refrained from cursing him in disgust; how could you not even care that your mother was giving birth to your sister? It made no sense to him. He shook his head to clear it of anger as they stepped off the elevator onto the third floor, and made their way down the hall. As they walked, they heard alarms going off, and saw a number of medical personnel rushing into a room.

"What's happening!" Vernon yelled when he realised the room where the alarms were coming from was Petunia's.

"Your wife had a terrible allergic reaction to the epidural," a nurse explained on her way in the room. Vernon and Harry followed her into the room, standing in one corner out of the way. Dudley had continued on down the hall upon seeing a TV in a small waiting area, bringing another snort of disgust from Harry.

"And the baby?" Vernon threw out the question, though Harry suspected he truly was more concerned for Petunia.

"We'll know shortly," a doctor replied briskly before focusing back on Petunia, who began to code. "We're losing her!"

"Crash cart!" Another doctor called, gloving up. "Get a surgical kit in here!"

"What's going on!" Vernon's voice was nervous.

"Your wife has coded; her heart's not beating. We need to shock it to get it started, but we can't do that with the child still in her, as it will cause great stress to the baby. We need to do an emergency C-section in order to have any chance at saving the baby, or your wife," a nurse took a moment to explain.

Harry watched, with growing horror, as the team of doctors and nurses worked steadily, yet quickly, to remove Rhosymedre, putting her into a waiting nurse's arms. His attention turned back to his aunt as the doctors shocked her heart repeatedly, with little affect. Feeling oddly detached from himself as he watched the last link to his mother die, his attention shifted to his stunned Uncle who was leaning heavily against the wall, tears in his eyes, his face red.

A cry from the baby startled him, and he turned his head to look at the red, crying girl being weighed and measured. His uncle's face turned a dangerous shade of purpley-red, and he lunged.

"It's that little bitch's fault!" He screamed, trying to get to the infant. The doctors and nurses were quick to get between him and the baby, and soon forced him out of the room, and down to talk to Dudley. Knowing he had to do something, Harry covertly drew his wand and cast a difficult time-freezing spell that would pause time for five minutes. He unfroze the baby and picked her up, cradling her tightly against his chest. He rapidly transfigured a piece of gauze into a life-like baby, and then cast an illusion to make it appear like a real child, but a dead one. Waving his wand, he cast a series of charms that changed everyone's memories so they believed that Rhosymedre had also died due to the stressful circumstances. Harry made sure to cast the same spell on Uncle Vernon and Dudley.

"I'll take care of her Aunt Petunia," Harry whispered a farewell to his aunt, before disapparating from the room, back to Privet Drive.

"What do I do?" Harry asked himself as he stood in the middle of his room, looking down at the wailing baby in his arms. "I can't do this. I don't know how to take care of a baby."

Harry continued to stare at the quiet baby in his arms, before a determined look crossed his face. He set the baby on his bed, bunching up his covers so she couldn't roll, and quickly shrunk all of his things and stuck them in a backpack. Checking that the baby was still okay, he ran to his Aunt and Uncle's room and shrunk all the baby things his Aunt had bought, and stuffed them into his backpack. He only left out a few diapers, wipes, some baby formula, and a couple of bottles. He also grabbed a thicker blanket, and ran back to his room. Wrapping it carefully around the baby, he carefully carried her down to the kitchen, and made up two bottles of formula. She calmed down as he began feeding her, and she drank a fourth of one before she was done. Putting a towel over his shoulder, he patted her back till she burped, like he had seen on television. She dozed off in his arms as he left the house, apparating to an alley near the Leaky Cauldron. Pulling a cloak from his backpack, he pulled it on, making his face was shadowed.

He strode briskly through the pub, and let himself into Diagon Alley, going to Gringotts. He paid for a Gringotts card, which was a lot like a credit card, and also got a sack of money from his vault that contained muggle money; about a thousand pounds. He made his way back into muggle London, and caught a cab. Climbing in, he sank back gratefully into the seat, his eyes closed.

"Where to?" The cabbie asked.

"Cheapest hotel you know, with rooms to rent weekly," Harry said, eyes not opening.

"Yessir," the cabbie nodded, and took off.

Harry sighed. He knew Dumbledore would probably be worried that he had just up and disappeared without telling anyone, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. Hadn't Dumbledore said there were people who might hurt him? Well that would be especially true now that he had a baby girl with him. So what better plan than to leave Privet drive, and go somewhere no one would expect him to be? In muggle London, especially the seedier areas, he could lose himself till school started, or till he felt like going to the Weasley's. He'd probably do better to go there first, since Mrs. Weasley knew how to take care of a baby. However, Harry felt an obligation to take care of Rhosymedre himself. He had promised his aunt he would take care of _her_, and by default, Rhosymedre.

"That's much too long of a name for one so little," Harry said softly as he looked at the sleeping infant.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, just talking to my daughter," Harry met the cabbie's eyes in the rear-view mirror. He was surprised at how easily the lie rolled off his tongue.

"Oh," the cabbie shrugged, and pulled over a minute later. "Here you go. The English Inn. Cheap place, and fairly decent rooms too, for all that it's not in a great place. Sure you want to stay here, 'specially with a little tyke?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Harry thrust some money at him as he climbed out of the cab, and walked into the hotel.

"What do ya need?" A heavily made-up woman looked at him through thick, fake eyelashes.

"A room for a month," he said. "Maybe longer, but a month for now."

"Six hundred pounds love," she held out a hand, and he handed the money over. She in turn, handed him a heavy metal key, gesturing down the hall. "Room four at the end. Should be a little quieter for you and your kid."

"Thanks," he took the key, and entered the room at the end of the hall, locking the door behind him.

He surveyed the room. The cabby had been right that the rooms were fairly decent; depending on what your definition of 'fairly decent' was. The carpet was a non-descript shade of greenish-brown, and had several odd coloured spots on it. There was a short countertop that had a sink with a leaky faucet, and a small fridge underneath it. A two-foot square table extended from the wall, with two rickety looking chairs. There was one bed that was sloppily made with a couple of cheap hotel blankets, a bedside table with a lamp, and a chest of drawers against the wall across from the bed. A single window let in the majority of the light. The bathroom had a sink, toilet, and small bathtub/shower combo, with a single towel on the rack.

"Thank Merlin for magic," Harry looked at his wand, and immediately began casting cleaning charms on everything in the room.

It wasn't long before it was smelling slightly like the hospital wing did, though he preferred that to the state the room had been in before. Happy with the room now, he set Rhosymedre down on the bed. Opening his backpack, he began unpacking and unshrinking everything, placing it around the room. The changing table went over next to the dresser, the crib on one side of his bed, and his trunk on the other. Making up the crib as best he could, he put Rhosymedre in it before unpacking everything else.

"I think I'm going to call you Rose," he said, more to himself than to her. "That'll follow the tradition of flowery names, and it's shorter. Rhosymedre is a mouthful, you know?"

She slept on, though she did fidget a bit. Harry smiled, running a finger over her tiny hand.

"It's a good thing your birthday is today. July first is pretty easy to remember," he continued to watch her, still shocked by what he had done, and the entirety of the situation.

A knock on the door turned his attention away from the infant. He looked through the peep hole and saw another heavily made up woman standing outside. Making sure his wand was in his pocket, he unlocked and opened the door. The bottle-blond woman was very short, not more than five feet, even with the tall heels she had on. Her ample chest strained against the confines of the satiny looking tank-top she wore, paired with a nearly-indecent short skirt. Not that he was judgmental, but based on the area they were in, and her appearance, she was a prostitute.

"Hello love, looking for some company?" The woman nearly purred, and Harry found himself staring at her, dumbfounded, until Rhosymedre let out a cry behind him.

"Not unless you know how to take care of an infant," he said helplessly, feeling at a complete loss as to what to do.

"Had two kids of my own. Their father has custody," she shrugged, and walked past him. Harry cast a weapon-detection charm, and found nothing. Feeling comfortable with his wand in his pocket, as well as desperate for help, he decided to let her help, however unwise that might be in other's opinions. He closed and locked the door again, following the short woman across the room as she picked up Rose, still clad in the little pink hospital gown.

"Oh she's a cutie, how old is she?"

"She was just born early this morning," Harry fibbed slightly. She had been born this morning, just not very early. "Her mother didn't make it, but I was able to go ahead and take her."

"Aren't you young to be a dad?"

"I suppose," Harry shrugged, and fibbed again. "I'm seventeen."

"What's her name? I'm Lacey by the way."

"She's Rhosymedre, Rose for short. I'm Harry."

"You're _harried_ is more like it," she looked at him critically. "You don't have the slightest idea how to take care of a kid, do you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Harry groaned and sat heavily on the bed, his head in his hands.

"Most men don't know how to deal with infants, or at least, they can turn to their wife, or the baby's mother for help. You're not that lucky. Now, first things first. Usually when a baby cries, she's hungry, needs to be changed, tired, or just wants attention. As an infant, she's going to have to be fed every couple of hours. Changings will be that often too."

"I fed her about an hour ago."

"Did you change her since then?"

"No."

"Then that's probably it," Lacey stood up and carefully set Rose down on the changing table. "Come over here and let me walk you through this."

"All right," Harry walked over.

"Now, you're going to unbutton her outfit- it's called a onesie- and push it up to her waist so it's clear of the diaper. Undo the tabs, and make sure you've got the wipes, as well as baby-powder and a clean diaper ready. Grab her ankles with one hand and lift her legs and arse off the table a bit, pulling the diaper away from her."

"Won't that hurt her?"

"No. Now, keep her little arse off the table till you clean it! Take a wipe and make sure to clean her up good. Now, slide the clean diaper underneath her."

"Wait, what do I do with _that_?" Harry pointed at the soiled diaper.

"You roll it up, and use the tabs to keep it closed, and toss it," she laughed as wrinkled his face in disgust.

"Nasty."

"It's a part of life, get used to it, especially if you're going to be doing the changings," she elbowed him lightly. "Now, sprinkle a bit of baby powder on her skin to keep it from chaffing or getting diaper rash and all."

"Diaper sores?"

"If you see her skin getting red and irritated looking, you'll need to buy some special diaper rash cream to rub on. But that's not a worry right now. Back to the diaper, you just need to tuck it tightly around her, and make sure the tabs are tight. You don't want it falling off after all. Now re-button the onesie, wrap her back up in her blanket, and you're good."

"Is there any particular way I should hold her?" Harry looked down at the infant.

"Not really, though make sure to support her head and neck. Babies necks can't support their heads till they're about two, three months old," Lacey picked up Rose by holding one hand under her head and neck, and the other on her lower back and bottom. "Just kinda scoop her up like that, and then settle her into the crook of one arm. You can use that sling over there too when you need to take her out, and want your hands free."

"This?" Harry picked up a thick piece of fabric fashioned in a large loop of sorts.

"Yes," Lacey gestured for him to put it on, and when he had, she settled Rose in it. "Or of course you can just set her in the baby carrier, or in her crib, on her stomach so if she vomits she won't choke. And don't forget to keep her dressed warmly, as babies always tend to be colder than we are."

"I have a lot to learn," Harry groaned.

"Well I'm an excellent teacher," Lacey purred, running a hand up his chest, giving him a saucy grin.

"Uh…well, I don't think," Harry stuttered.

"Relax sugar, I don't mean sex," Lacey giggled. "Well, unless you want to of course. I won't say no. But we'll worry about that later. I meant with your daughter. I can help you with her, no charge, in the afternoons a couple times a week, if you want. I miss my kids, so this'll be fun. And you're pretty cute yourself, which is an added bonus."

"Sure, thanks," Harry nodded gratefully, blushing slightly at her blatant flirting and teasing. He was barely comfortable with himself around the girls at school, and she was just so brazen and over-the-top, it was hard to handle.

"Well good. Now, I've got a…_friend_…to meet, so I'll see you tomorrow, and we'll go shopping."

"For what?"

"More clothes, a few pacifiers, some more formula, things like that," she looked around the room. "You've got a pretty good amount of stuff, but you're missing some things. Not to mention you need some clothes too I daresay."

"Fine," Harry nodded, knowing it was true. He had his wizard robes, as well as a few muggle outfits, though the muggle clothes weren't in the best of shape.

"Till tomorrow love," she gave him a quick kiss on the lips before unlocking the door and walking across the hall to her room with a wave.

"Well it looks like we're getting some help, however odd a source it may be," Harry shook his head in amazement. What would his friends say if they knew he was getting help with his infant cousin from a prostitute? Or the fact he was living in a hotel room with said infant?

"You know, if I'm going to keep introducing you to everyone as my daughter, I should find some way to make that happen for real," Harry mused aloud as he paced, Rhosymedre drifting off again in the sling, one hand curled around one of his fingers. "That'll make things easier when I go back to school, cause there's no way I'm going to just let them take you away from me after all the trouble we've been through."

His mind made up, he grabbed a cloak and put it on, wrapping it tightly around him as he apparated from the hotel room to the apparition room at the Leaky Cauldron. Once again making sure his face wasn't visible, and checking that Rose was fully asleep, he entered Diagon Alley, and swiftly walked to the bookstore.

"Hello there, may I help you?" an older man asked as he entered.

"Books on adoption rituals, or something similar?" Harry deepened his voice to disguise it.

"Well, we've one on adoption, but it's simply about the process at the ministry, and the paperwork and such," the man replied. "I'm guessing you're wanting something more, about how a parent would actually go about adopting a child as their own?"

"Yes."

"I'm afraid we won't have what you need," he said hesitantly, looking around. "It's done by blood, and while it's not a dark ritual, the ministry frowns upon it all the same. The reason being is that it completely changes a child, giving them characteristics and genes of the adoptive parents, and making them as good as a biological child. The bookstore in Knockturn Alley should have something to better suit your needs sir."

"Thank you," Harry replied and left the store. He stood at the mouth of Knockturn Alley, and looking down at Rose, wondered if he dared to go in with her. Wrapping the cloak around so she wasn't visible, he decided to just go ahead and get it over with, and strode confidently down the street till he caught sight of the dodgy looking store. He ducked in quickly, and strode to the counter.

"A book on blood adoption rituals," he demanded, putting a small sack of galleons on the counter, knowing that would be the quickest way to get the book and get out.

"Of course, sir," the heavy-set woman eyed the money greedily, and bustled off down an aisle, returning a moment later with a small, dusty, tome. "Here you are."

Harry took the book and left, not bothering to listen to her other reading recommendations. Once back at the Leaky Cauldron, he apparated to his hotel room gratefully. He hated Knockturn Alley; it always left him feeling as if he had walked through cobwebs, and was slightly dirty. Carefully lifting Rose out of the sling, he laid her in her crib, and covered her with a warm quilt, remembering what Lacey had said about babies getting cold.

"This doesn't look hard," Harry said aloud as he began reading the book. "Looks like all I have to do is make a small cut on each of our right thumbs, and say this incantation. So what do you think, should I just go ahead and try it?"

Rhosymedre simply slept on. Harry grabbed his wand and used a modified cutting charm on his right thumb, and then Rhosymedre's, and pressed them together before reciting the rather simple incantation. He felt a tingle pass through him, and Rhosymedre woke up with a cry. Harry watched in amazement at the slight changes he saw; her nose changed a bit, her hair darkened to a darker brown than it had been, and most noticeably, her eyes took on the same bright green of his eyes.

"Well I guess that makes it official," Harry talked to her softly as he grabbed the bottle from earlier and began to feed her again. "I now have a daughter."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks for the reviews! Special thanks to Meep for correcting my lack of Brit-isms. I'm American, and sadly lacking, so forgive my lack of knowledge about the ambulance service, and for calling nappies, diapers. Without further ado, here's chapter four!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Four

"HARRY!" A loud voice sounded through the door, accompanied by knocking.

Harry jerked awake, looking around tiredly at his surroundings in confusion before the previous day's events came rushing back to him. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was nearly ten in the morning. Pushing himself up, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stumbled over to the door. Seeing Lacey on the other side, he undid the locks and opened the door, letting her in.

"Good morning sunshine," she ruffled his already messy hair as she waltzed in.

"What's good about it?" He grumbled in reply, closing the door behind her.

"Looks like someone discovered two a.m. feedings," she laughed as she walked over to the crib, picking up a very-much awake Rose.

"And four a.m. and seven a.m.," he rubbed a hand over his face, wincing at the feel of the stubble. "Why aren't you tired? Weren't you out with a friend last night?"

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "You know very well that I'm a whore."

"I wouldn't put it like that," he shrugged, colouring a bit.

"Thanks all the same for putting it so nicely though. Actually makes me feel like a lady. And as for being tired, well, sex is a pretty good way to wear you out so you sleep well," she said cheekily, giving him a wink as he reddened even more at her bluntness. "Now, you ready to go? We've got shopping to do!"

"Um…I've got to feed her, change her nappy, and change her clothes first," Harry ticked off on his fingers.

"And don't forget, since you're going to be taking her with us, you need to pack a bag with nappies, wipes, a couple of bottles, and a couple changes of clothing," she added.

"Excited much?" Harry chuckled as he packed the bag with the aforementioned items while Lacey got Rose fed and dressed.

"You know what I do," she said softly, in a serious tone, as she fed Rose. "To be able to go out with a nice guy who's got no intentions of doing anything with me, is a nice reminder of normalcy. I get a chance to act like the young woman I might've grown into, if I'd had the chance."

"You don't have to answer, but how'd you become a…prostitute?" Harry asked hesitantly as he set up the stroller.

"I got pregnant when I was sixteen. My parents kicked me out, but the guy who got me pregnant did the honourable thing and married me. We even had another kid together, and I thought I'd finally found my happily ever after, ya know? But another girl, a younger, prettier one, came along, so he divorced me. Since I didn't have anywhere to go, no marketable skills for a job, and no way to make a living, he got the kids and all, and I was left with a bag of clothes and no prospects. So three years ago, when I was just nineteen, I started turning tricks, and that's how I got here. Though a couple weeks back I got a waitressing job at a pub not too far from the hotel. It's long, hard work, and the boss is somewhat of a jerk, but it's better than working the streets."

"Oh," Harry said, for lack of something else to say. "Well I think I'm ready."

"And this girl's ready," Lacey put Rose in the stroller, throwing a blanket over top to keep out the bright sun outside. "Let's go. We're going to catch the underground and head into town. I know a couple of cheaper stores there where you'll be able to find some cute stuff for her, and things for you as well."

"Lead the way," he grinned, and playfully bowed her out the door before pushing Rose after her, after casting a tracking charm on her, just in case they should get separated, or Lacey tried to take her. He didn't really think that Lacey would do that; his instincts said she was all right, and they were usually right. But it never hurt to make sure.

* * *

"Shopping for you first, or for the munchkin?" Lacey asked as they emerged from the dark underground.

"I don't really care one way or the other," he shrugged. "We can start with her, but then I think I'll want to go home. I probably shouldn't keep her out too long."

"Oh I know, I just figured it'd be easier to get it all done today," she smiled apologetically. "I just like shopping, and forget not everyone's as into it as I am."

"It's not that, I just want to make sure I put her first. So, where to?"

Harry was led a few blocks to a little shop specialising in baby clothes at reasonable prices. Looking around once inside, he was amazed by just how many different outfits there were, and how _cute_ it all seemed. Of course he found Rhosymedre cute, and was already very much attached and in love with her, but _baby clothes_…those were something completely different. Already he found himself overwhelmed by it all, and he hadn't even started.

"Now what's your budget?" Lacey asked. "Because you need a few more outfits for her now. Not to mention you should probably pick up a few things that she can grow into."

"Lots of that stuff," he referred to the last. "In a month or so I'm going to be going to live with friends, and then I've got boarding school in Scotland to go too, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get out and pick up things as she grows."

"Well then," Lacey put her fisted hands on her hips, looking around. "We'll pick up a number of onesies, which'll be fine for her for the next couple of months. Some elastic-waist pants, again, they'll grow with her to an extent. We'll get lots of solids I think; jeans and pants and so on. Those will be especially useful when she starts crawling. Then you can mix and match shirts, and that'll give you a number of outfits, without spending so much. I think we'll mainly pick up t-shirts, both short sleeve and long sleeve, and then get a couple of sweaters in some basic colours so you can do layers. And a couple of dresses, because since she's a little girl, you need to have a few girly-clothes for her."

"Sounds good to me," Harry gave a sigh of relief. Everything sounded logical to him, not that he knew all that much. "Where do I start?"

"Well I can see you're overwhelmed-" Lacey was interrupted by Rose starting to fuss. "Why don't you go park your stroller over there, and then feed her as you walk around? If you see something that catches your eye, just call me over and we'll pick out a good size. I'll start gathering everything else."

"Thanks," Harry nodded, and wheeled the stroller over to a corner that had been specifically set aside for that purpose. Grabbing a bottle out of the diaper bag, he pulled the blanket off the top of the stroller and looked down at the red-face infant. She calmed down when she saw him, and stopped crying altogether when he picked her up and settled her in the crook of his left arm. She latched onto the bottle as he began to walk around.

"Oh isn't she adorable! Look at those green eyes!" A plump woman who reminded him of Molly Weasley came bustling over. "How old is she?"

"Just two days," Harry shifted slightly so she could see Rose better.

"Oh, still just a newbie then, isn't she?" she smiled brightly before straightening up and meeting his eyes. "I just came over to see if you needed help with anything."

"I've got a friend helping me," he gestured with his head towards Lacey who was sifting through some pants on a table. "But thank you."

"Of course," she nodded. "Well if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask!"

"I won't," he nodded back, and returned to walking around, and headed in the direction of the dresses. They were so impossibly small looking, as were the little suits next to them. Briefly, he wondered if he had ever fit into something so small. A bit of fussing drew his attention back to Rose, and he saw she was done. Burping her, he settled her back in his arms as he walked to where Lacey had acquired what seemed to be several years worth of clothes.

"I think that should do you," she surveyed the basket she was carrying. "I threw in a couple of sundresses, but you should probably pick up a fancy one for Christmas. Did you see any you liked?"

"Uh yeah actually," Harry walked back over to the fancy dresses. "That one, the gold frilly looking one."

"Oh that's cute, and it'll look adorable with her dark hair," Lacey looked at it. "Now, she'll be almost six months by Christmas, so the six to nine month old size should work just fine."

"Great, are we ready to go now?" Harry asked, somewhat eagerly.

"Just like most guys, you hate shopping," she laughed, bringing everything to the counter for the cashier to ring up. Harry pulled out his Gringotts card which appeared like a credit card to muggles, and paid for the lot. Harry put Rose back in the stroller and took the two large bags from Lacey, letting her push Rose.

"Sure you don't want to grab a few things for yourself?"

"Might as well, so I don't have to bother with the underground again," Harry acquiesced with a sigh, and let her gleefully precede him down the block to a large store carrying a variety of men's clothes. Once she knew his size, she was off gathering things; jeans in both black and blue, a couple of khakis, screen tees, tanks, button up shirts, and a couple of long sleeved shirts. Most were solids, though there were a couple of striped shirts, and a few tees with some writing on them. Lacey showed them to him piece by piece, and after he okayed everything, he paid for it.

"Thanks for your help today," he said later as they sat on the underground, heading back to the hotel. "I would've taken a lot longer, not to mention I didn't have any clue what I should've gotten."

"It was fun, but I'm the one who should be thanking you," she linked her arm through his, resting her head against his arm with a happy sigh. "I had a lot of fun. You'll make a great husband to some lucky girl someday."

"Uh thanks," he blushed slightly, but tried to hide it by checking in on Rose.

"Oh you are just too cute!" Lacey giggled, patting his cheek. Obviously he hadn't hid his blush well enough. "A guy who still blushes is hard to find. I like making you blush; need the sex talk? Or better yet, I could always show you."

"Stop!" he protested good naturedly as he ducked his head. "I just don't know how to deal with you; you're so forward and all."

"What, the girls at school don't fawn all over you? One must've since you've got that gorgeous daughter there."

"That was an accident, and not a girl from school," Harry answered, not entirely lying; Petunia dying was an accident, and she wasn't a girl from school. "And at my school, I'm kind of a local celebrity I guess you could say, so the girls tend to gossip about me instead of trying to date me."

"I see. Well, you'll just have to practice flirting with me so you can find a nice one when you go back."

"I don't think I'll do much flirting, even if I do practice with you," he replied teasingly, enjoying their conversation and friendly bantering. She may be a prostitute, but she was still a woman, and her feisty attitude reminded him somewhat of Ginny.

"And why not?"

"Rhosymedre is going to be first in my life," Harry said simply, looking at her with a fierce protective gaze. "If I find someone who can accept that, and still wants to give a relationship with me a shot, then that's great. I'm not going to say I _won't_ date, just that I won't date without Rose being accepted as part of the deal."

"You know, you sure don't act like any seventeen year old I've ever met," Lacey commented.

"Life and all that comes with it can do that to you," he shrugged, then stood as they neared their stop.

He held out a hand to help her up as the train came to a screeching halt. She linked her arm through his, and they walked out of the station and back to the hotel in a companionable silence. Once back at the hotel, they bid their goodbyes.

"Give her a bath, babies love skin-to-skin contact," Lacey said from her doorway. "And a lotion rub-down afterwards to keep her skin soft and moisturised."

"How do I do that?"

"Either in the sink, or run a couple inches in the tub and bathe with her," Lacey gave him a saucy grin. "Want some company?"

"Maybe another time," he chuckled, managing to keep from blushing as he knew she was just joking. Though he knew if he said yes, she wouldn't turn him down.

"Bollocks. Well I'll see you in a few days then. I've got to work at the pub during the day, and then meet a couple of guys the next few nights, so I won't get a chance to see you."

"All right. See ya then Lacey," Harry gave her a one-armed hug.

"Take care sugar, and thanks again for the day," she returned the hug before entering her room, the door closing and locking behind her. Harry opened his room, pushed the stroller through, and then shut and locked the door.

"Well, you've had a long day I suppose, though I think the fresh air probably was a good thing," Harry said softly to his daughter. "How about that bath? You like the sound of that?"

Rose of course, being all of two days old, didn't say anything, but Harry decided it'd be good to get her properly cleaned up. Walking into the dimly lit bathroom, he turned the hot water tap on and let it run to warm up. Back in the room, he went through one of the bags of stuff he had grabbed from his aunt's till he found the baby shampoo and a colourful wash-mitt. He brought it back into the bathroom, and added some cold water till it was a comfortable temperature that wouldn't be too hot for Rose. Putting the stopper in, he let a few inches run before turning the water off.

"All right sweetheart, let's get you clean, huh?" Harry quickly stripped off his clothes before undressing Rose.

Holding her close to his chest, he carefully settled himself in the tub. Keeping her in the crook of his left arm, his right hand grabbed the wash-mitt. Slowly and gently, he cleaned her off, smiling as she seemed to become more aware of things around her. Using the mitt to wet what little hair she had, he then grabbed the shampoo bottle and poured a tiny amount on her head, rubbing it in gently and making sure to keep away from her eyes. He knew the bottle said it was gentle and tear-free, but he didn't want to take any chances. Once he thought he'd gotten it rubbed in well enough, he took the mitt up once more and used it to rinse out the shampoo. It was a little slow going, but he found he liked this quiet moment they were sharing.

It made him feel needed, Harry thought with some small degree of surprise. When he had defeated Voldemort, he had enjoyed being a normal teen…for a while at any rate. Soon he had been struggling with a feeling of boredom. He was no longer needed by the wizarding world to save it. He didn't have a "purpose" anymore, so to speak, and that had brought on a slight depression. Sure he had hidden it well from his friends and all, but he knew. Finding out about his aunt's pregnancy, and all things baby, had given him a new interest, and the start of a climb out of depression. He had realised that life would go on, and that he did have a purpose; it had only changed from killing Voldemort, to "growing up", getting a job, and hopefully getting married and having kids someday.

"I guess I did that a bit out of order, huh?" Harry laughed, looking down at his daughter. "I've got the daughter, but no wife or job, and I'm still in school. That's one of the reasons I wanted to adopt you, you know. I didn't want anyone trying to take you away from me, and giving you to someone else to be cared for by. I promised Aunt Petunia I would take care of you, and now I'm promising you, Rhosymedre Elizabeth Potter. I will take care of you the best I can, for as long as I can."

As Harry's solemn and heartfelt declaration, Rose simply yawned, and her eyes fluttered shut.

"Guess that means it's time for an afternoon nap," Harry grinned, and carefully climbed out of the tub, wrapping a pink baby blanket he had brought in around her snugly before securing a towel around his waist. Walking out of the bathroom, he nearly dropped Rose in shock as a small cough sounded behind him and in an instant he found himself clothed in a fluffy purple bathrobe.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry gasped in shock at seeing the wizened old wizard sitting calmly in a conjured chintz armchair, fingers steepled in front of him.

"Hello Harry," he replied calmly, eyes twinkling infuriatingly. "Please, do carry on tending to-?"

"My daughter, Rhosymedre Elizabeth," he replied, his chin lifting defiantly as if daring Professor Dumbledore to say something.

"Ah. As I started to say, please carry on tending to Miss Potter," Albus' face showed only the briefest traces of surprise. "I wasn't aware that you were a father, or about to be one, as the case was a few months ago. May I ask how that came about?"

"In the usual way Professor," Harry snapped before he could stop himself. He didn't want anyone to know about the blood rituals, for fear that they could somehow undo them and take Rose back to Vernon and Dudley.

"Of course," Albus simply chuckled. "My apologies. Continue with what you were doing, please."

"Thank you sir," Harry nodded, grabbing a fresh onesie and carrying it over to the changing table. "May I ask why you're here, or how you knew I was here?"

"I'm here simply because you are," Albus answered, watching as Harry unwrapped the blanket and began to rub lotion on her. "When you leave the house, one of the devices in my office lets me know. I am also aware that the blood protection no longer exists, as your Aunt is no longer with us. My condolences."

Harry shrugged, "Thanks sir." He continued focusing on Rose, putting her diaper on fairly easily, and then the onesie. Placing her in the crib, he covered her with a blanket before taking a seat on the bed, facing the Professor.

"The tracking device is only known to me, so no one else knows you are no longer at Privet Drive. I assume you would like to keep it that way?"

"Yes sir. You said it yourself; there are still people who want my name and power to use for themselves. Being here, no one knows I'm here, other than you. And I doubt most of the types of wizards who would want to use me would willingly wander into Muggle London, let alone this dirty, grimy, less-reputable part."

"I quite agree," Albus said mildly, stopping Harry from going off on a tangent.

"Huh…I mean, you do?"

"Yes, I do. I had a difficult time finding you myself, and I have a tracking charm to follow. So I highly doubt that anyone else would be able to."

"All the same, I don't plan on leaving here till I've at least finished up the month I've paid for," Harry stated stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"I thought you might say that," Albus smiled, and pulled out his wand, and tapped the Ogham pendant that Harry still wore, "Portus."

"You've made this an emergency portkey then?" Harry watched the pendant glow blue and tremor briefly before returning to it's natural appearance.

"Yes. Simply grasp it in hand, and wish to be at Headquarters, and you'll be taken there. Also, I ask that once your time here is up, you rejoin the Weasleys, Miss Granger, and a few others at Headquarters for the remainder of the summer holidays. I believe that will put you there a day or so before Mister Weasley and Miss Delacour's nuptials, unless I'm mistaken. That will also give Miss Potter a chance to acclimate herself to a slightly more lively environment, as well as new people. I assume she will be coming with you for the school year?"

"Yes sir. Her mother died," Harry nodded, feeling almost weak, he was so grateful that everything was working out as he had hoped. "Thank you sir."

"You're quite welcome. After all, Hogwarts is a school for children. Though perhaps none quite so young as your daughter, but I daresay she will be welcomed by everyone all the same. Babies are such wonderful joys to have around."

"Would you like to hold her sir?"

"Why yes, I would be delighted," Albus smiled and promptly stood and transfigured his armchair into a rocking chair before settling back into it. Harry carefully transferred Rose into his arms before sitting back on the bed.

"She's a witch by the way," Harry mentioned after a moment. "During the pregnancy, she brought up colourful lights outside the womb."

"I can feel her power," Albus murmured softly, so as not to disturb the baby he was rocking gently. "She will be quite a talented witch. Not your level I'm afraid, but somewhere akin to Miss Weasley, if I'm not mistaken."

"As long as she's happy."

"Quite right my boy, as long as she's happy. That's the most important thing," Albus smiled at him before standing and placing Rose back in the crib and recovering her with the blanket. "I believe that is all we needed to discuss. My apologies for walking in on you earlier."

"That's okay Professor," Harry blushed slightly, looking down at the ridiculous purple bathrobe.

"I will have Fawkes bring you your school letter," Albus continued. "Your owl is, of course, in Miss Granger's care."

"Sir, what will you tell everyone when they ask why I'm not answering letters and all?"

"Simply that your Uncle refuses to tolerate owls, which is quite the truth," Albus' eyes twinkled with mirth as he gave a slight bow and disapparated with a soft pop.

* * *

Once again, Harry had a tiring night, what with getting up every two hours or so to feed Rose. When morning came, he bundled Rose up and took her for a short walk down the block to where a small bookshop was trying to make a go of things, though not very successfully, from the looks of it. Inside he picked up a book on Infant Development and Childcare, and spent the rest of the morning reading over it. It was dead useful, and a good source of practical advice and suggestions to make things easier. One of the ones that really stood out with him, that he should've been able to figure out with common sense, was to sleep when she did. So he started doing that; he slept when he could at night, and during the day when she napped, so did he, and over the next few days, he found himself feeling less exhausted as his body adjusted to the new sleeping pattern.

Two weeks into his stay at the hotel, Harry had spent a few more days with Lacey, though another waitress at the pub had left, and she was picking up the extra shifts. Much of his free time was spent either working on his summer assignments, or apparating himself and Rose to a park where he'd walk her around in her stroller to get some fresh air. He often met other parents at the park, and enjoyed getting advice from their first-hand experiences. There was one other dad there who he especially enjoyed talking to, as he could relate to Harry better in some ways.

As the third week came to an end, Harry had finished all of his summer assignments, and was feeling slightly claustrophobic. The park was nice to get out to once in a while, but he didn't fancy going there every day. Rose seemed to agree, not that she was really aware of her surroundings. She recognised his voice, and would sometimes coo back at him when he talked to her; she seemed to like the sound of his voice.

* * *

"How's my girl?" Harry smiled at her as he lifted her out of the crib, her morning nap over.

He only had a one more night before he left for Grimmauld place, and he had to admit he was glad to be going to see his friends. Lacey had left earlier in the week; working full time at the pub, especially with the extra shifts and what she had saved from turning tricks, had finally given her enough to move into a small apartment several blocks away. Harry had been disappointed in one sense to see her go, as she was the only company he had at the hotel, but glad that she was getting her life on the right track. She had even stopped turning tricks, though she had told him she'd happily do him anytime. He laughingly thanked her for the offer, though he was sure he wouldn't cash in. Nice woman or not, he didn't want to risk an STD or anything.

"What do you say we get out of here for a while?" Harry asked, bouncing her gently in his arms as he walked to the changing table. "A trip to Diagon Alley again, maybe. I'd like to get you a set of dress robes for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Would you like that?"

Rose cooed and smiled, though he was sure that was because he was talking to her, and she liked the sound of his voice. He had even taken to singing her to sleep at night when she woke up. His voice was a strong tenor, though he had no plans to try and make singing his career. His daughter was the only fan he needed.

"All right sweetheart, let's go," Harry slipped the sling on, and maneuvered Rose into it easily; he'd had a lot of practice using it. Grabbing a light cloak, he threw it over them, effectively shadowing his face, and also hiding her for the time being. Shrinking the diaper bag, he put it in the sling at her feet, and disapparated to the Leaky Cauldron. He entered Diagon Alley and headed for Madame Malkins. Entering it, he was happy to see it was deserted, so he slid his hood back and adjusted the sling so Rose could see.

"Hello, how can I help you- Oh! Mister Potter!" Madame Malkin came through a door behind the counted, smiling when she saw him. "How can I help you?"

"I need dress robes for my daughter," he turned so she could see Rose. "I'd also appreciate it if you didn't say anything about her to anyone. I'd rather it not get out for as long as I can help it."

"Of course," she agreed immediately, walking over to get a better look at her. "She's beautiful. Now you said you needed dress robes? For what occasion?"

"Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour's wedding."

"And how old is she?"

"Almost a month."

"Something summery in colour, but still warm enough for her then," Madame Malkin immediately headed for one corner of the store where there were children's robes. She rifled through one rack for a few moments before pulling out a few garments and bringing them back to him. She laid them out over the counter. "Here are a few things that'll be perfect. What will you be wearing?"

"I actually don't have the slightest idea," he admitted sheepishly. "The last dress robes I had are too short."

"Well then, we'll have to fix that, won't we?" She walked over to the wizard's section, and grabbed a few garments. "Again, here are a few things I think will be good for a wedding. Personally, I'd go with the green, as it goes so well with your eyes. Or this rich chocolately brown, as it's also a nice solid earth-tone. You look better in darker colours dear."

"Green's fine with me," Harry shrugged, liking the look of the light-weight, emerald green robe anyways.

"Lovely, now how tall are you?"

"Almost six feet," he replied, and she gave a few flicks of her wand, adjusting the length.

"There, that should work just fine," she nodded, and with another flick of her wand, Harry found himself clad in the robe, which indeed fit perfectly. "Good. Now for the little one, I'd suggest this light green one. It's slightly fitted around the sleeves and top, and the skirt has some length to it. Rather like Muggle christening gowns, you could say. It also has this over-robe with it, so she'll be warm enough and not need a blanket."

"We'll be matching. I'll take it," he grinned. "You know I trust your judgment. I don't do well with clothes."

"You seem to have done a good job with her," Madame Malkin gestured to the jeans and yellow striped top Rose had on.

"Her mother picked out some of her clothes, and a friend of mine helped pick the rest."

"Well you still did an admirable job putting it all together then," Madame Malkin flicked her wand, dressing Rose in the robe. "Would you mind taking her out of the sling so I can make sure it fits all right?"

"Sure," Harry nodded, and lifted her out, holding her against his chest so that she was stretched out. Her eyes fluttered open for a few moments, but she quickly went back to sleep.

"She has your eyes," Madame Malkin smiled, making a few adjustments before flicking her wand and removing the dress robe. "There now. I'll just ring these up for you."

"Thanks," Harry replied as he settled Rose back in the sling and drew his cloak back on.

He paid Madame Malkin and shrunk the bag, once again slipping it into his pocket. Leaving the shop, he headed down the street, intent on picking up a trunk in which to pack Rose's belongings. Inside the luggage store, it didn't take him long to pick up a small, three-compartment truck. He paid for it, shrunk it, and carried it in hand back to the Leaky Cauldron before disapparating back to the hotel. Rose was awake, and starting to fuss, so he quickly prepared a bottle and fed her, before burping her and putting her back in the crib. He put a mobile of sorts over her that had colourful noisy things dangling from it, and music playing, to keep her attention while he packed her things.

He opened it once, and started moving some of her clothes into that compartment, leaving out a warm flannel onesie for tomorrow, as Grimmauld Place was often drafty. Closing the trunk, he used the second key to open the second compartment. In that, he put the rest of clothes, for when she was bigger, the extra diapers, formula, pacifiers, and the mobile. Closing the trunk again, he used the third key to open the last compartment, and filled it up with the baby carrier, the changing table, and the stroller. Not for the first time, he was glad there was magic, which enabled the trunk to have expanded space to hold everything.

The night passed quickly, but like previous nights, Harry didn't sleep so well. He was beginning to feel nervous about going to Grimmauld Place and seeing everyone. He knew they would be shocked, and probably a little put out with him because he didn't tell them about Rhosymedre. Of course, that was because she hadn't been his, but she was now, and that's the story he was going to stick with. Mrs. Weasley would no doubt fuss over the baby, and then fuss over him, all the while berating him for getting a girl pregnant to begin with. Of course, once he mentioned the baby's mother was dead, she would start fussing over him once more.

"Come on sweetheart, let's get out of this place," Harry met his daughter's green-eyed gaze with a smile. "You've got Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione to meet."

Harry quickly shrunk and packed his things and put them in his trunk. After transferring Rose into the sling, he packed the rest of Rhosymedre's things, only leaving out a pink blanket and a well-stocked diaper bag. After double-checking that he had gotten everything, he slid the diaper bag over his shoulder, and checked out of the hotel. Once out of sight of anyone, in an alley, he disapparated to the deserted alley near the park, where he spent a couple hours before disapparating to Grimmauld Place.

* * *

A/N: That's it y'all! Hope you enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun writing the Harry/Rhosymedre interactions. Babies are fun…most of the time :-D lol. Just so everyone knows, I'm not a mum or anything, though I do have lots of experience babysitting, including with infants. I am referring to an "Infant Development" website to make sure Rhosymedre develops accordingly. So review if you like, and tune in for the next chappie in a few days. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: It's not mine.

A/N: Hey y'all, thanks bunches for the reviews! Now, here's the next chapter!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Five

Harry appeared in the attic of Grimmauld Place; it had been set up as the designated apparating and disapparating point for the house. Listening for a moment, he was surprised to not hear anything from below. Shrugging, he headed down the steps and into one of the spare bedrooms on the floor. Usually he shared with Ron, but with Rose and all, he thought it prudent to have a room of his own so as not to bother anyone. He un-shrunk their trunks and set them near the bed before setting Rose on the bed and unhooking the sling. He was sure there would be no shortage of people willing or wanting to hold her.

Planning to unpack later, he left his room and continued downstairs to the main floor, expecting to find someone around. Still not seeing anyone, and feeling rather suspicious, he cast an invisibility charm on himself and Rose, drew his cloak tighter around the both of them, and slowly and quietly began to walk around. As he neared the back cloak-room, he heard the sounds of talking outside, and quietly peeked through the glass window of the door. He almost laughed at himself when he realised everyone was gathered outside; it appeared they were throwing Bill and Fleur a party, probably as part of the wedding rehearsal. Harry looked around a few moments more, seeing who all was there; all the Weasleys, Hermione, Tonks, Remus, Fleur, and Gabrielle. Taking a deep breath, he gathered his courage about him, removed the invisibility charm, and slipped outside.

"HARRY!" Hermione was the first to notice, and her cry drew everyone's attention towards him. She began to run over as if to hug him.

"Wait a sec Mione!" He threw a hand up, effectively stopping her from throwing her arms around him. It wasn't that he didn't want a hug, but he didn't want Rose getting squished in the process.

"What?" She stopped, looking hurt. Ron and Ginny were close behind, followed by everyone else at a more sedate pace.

"I didn't want you squishing Rose," he said, fighting a smirk as he took off his robe and shrunk it, sticking it in his pocket, revealing Rose to them.

"Oh!" Molly exclaimed upon catching sight of the infant. "She's so precious!"

"Thank you," Harry nodded, and looked around at them all. "Everyone, meet Rhosymedre Elizabeth Potter, my daughter."

Silence reigned supreme for a few moments as everyone stared at him.

"WHAT!?" Ron's bellow echoed loudly in his ear, and startled Rose, who let out a cry.

"My daughter," Harry repeated as he glared mildly at Ron, bouncing Rose up and down. He pulled out a bottle from the diaper bag and began feeding her deftly with it. "Try not to yell, will you?"

"How do you have a daughter and not tell your friends about it?" Ron crossed his arms, staring at Harry accusingly.

"Quite in the usual way, I'm sure," Harry gave the same snappy reply he had to Professor Dumbledore. "I'm sure your mum can explain it to you if you don't know."

The Weasley boys laughed as Ron abruptly reddened about the ears.

"I think what Ron is trying to say," Hermione cut in, glaring at Ron, "is that we didn't know you're involved with anyone."

"I'm not," Harry said bluntly. "It was an accident, Rose's mother is dead, and I'm taking care of her. End of story."

"And 'ow old iz she?" Fleur asked, kindly changing the subject.

"A month today," Harry gave her a grateful smile.

"She iz lovely, and she 'as your eyes," Gabrielle had walked over to stand near his arm, and was looking down at the baby.

"Family trait, I suppose," he shrugged, shifting on his feet. "I don't mind answering questions, but could I sit down first? She needs to finish eating, and then she'll want to nap."

"Oh! Of course! How rude of us to keep you," Molly said, and everyone stepped back to let him through.

"You want to pass her here Harry?" Fred asked. "I'll feed her if you want to relax."

"Fred, do you even know _how_ to hold a baby?" Ginny asked, eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Uh, well, no," Fred admitted sheepishly. "Not exactly. I held you once or twice, but that was always with Mum or Dad right there to make sure I didn't drop you."

"Here, just support her body with your arm while her head sort of rests in the crook of your arm," Harry set Rose in Fred's arms, and when she was settled and Fred comfortable, he handed him the bottle. He turned back to everyone else who had seated themselves in chairs around him. "So how's everyone's summer been going?"

"Harry, you can't honestly just expect us to talk about our summer after you show up with an infant, especially when said infant is your _daughter_," Remus looked exasperated.

"Well what do you want me to say?" Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. "A mistake happened, Rose's mum is dead, and I'm the father."

"I just feel like there's something missing from your story," Remus frowned.

"Since Rose was born, I've been living in a small hotel in muggle London," Harry said with a sigh, bringing more gasps of surprise from his friends.

"Harry, that was highly irresponsible," Molly tutted disapprovingly.

"And what about the blood protection from your aunt's house?" Remus added. "You shouldn't have left there, no matter how much you dislike them."

"My aunt's dead and Vernon kicked me out," Harry said bluntly. It wasn't that far from the truth, since Vernon would have, with a bit of time.

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry," Tonks apologised; everyone else murmured similar sentiments.

Harry shrugged. "Thanks, but really, we weren't close, and I can't stand my uncle and cousin, so that's no loss. Though it was better between my aunt and I the last few months."

"Still, they were your last bit of family."

"Nah. I've got Rose, and of course you all," he gave them a small grin. "But honestly, I was fine. Professor Dumbledore knew where I was the entire time, and the only reason he didn't mention it to you guys is because I asked him not to. I wanted some time to myself, and also with my daughter. For the first time ever, it's been a good summer, and I've actually enjoyed it, so I'm not going to let you make me feel guilty about that."

"We get the message mate," George said jovially. "Now, can I hold her?"

"Sure. You guys can all hold her," Harry smiled at the excited look Molly got on her face.

"First though, I think she needs her nappy changed," Fred wrinkled his nose.

"Sure," Harry grabbed the wipes and a clean nappy from the bag and re-enlarged his cloak. Spreading it out on the soft grass, he took Rose from Fred and swiftly changed her nappy with ease before handing her over to George when he was done.

"You really look comfortable doing that," Charlie commented thoughtfully.

"I've had a month to practice, though I had some help at first. There was a woman across the hall from me in the hotel that helped out some," Harry leaned back on his elbows, enjoying the sunshine.

"What are you going to do at school?" Hermione asked, education always foremost in her mind.

"She's coming with me; Professor Dumbledore already okayed it. I'll bring her to some of my classes for the first few months; not defense or potions, but the others should be all right. When she's not with me, I'll see if I can leave her with Madam Pomfrey. Don't worry Mione, I'm still planning on finishing school and all; you'll be proud to know I've already finished all my assignments."

"Why'd you have to tell her that!?" Ron moaned, apparently over his shock and annoyance at Harry. "Now she's gonna be on my case till I finish my work."

"Oh well," Harry shrugged with a grin, flopping completely onto his back. "A little work'll be good for you."

"Not nice."

"Who's the one not being nice now?" Harry teased, as he sat back up. "Is it all right to grab some food, or are we waiting for other people?"

"Of course Harry, help yourself," Molly answered absently; she was holding Rose, and fussing happily over her.

"I still don't understand why you didn't tell us," Ron and Hermione followed him to the table of food.

"I didn't really know myself," Harry said, thinking fast on his feet. "That quidditch game in October when we creamed the Slytherins? We snuck out to get food in Hogsmede. Well I went back a while later cause I had forgotten to get my money pouch back. There was a girl there who invited me to have a drink; she was a squib, lived as a muggle, but liked the occasional butterbeer. We got to talking, and one thing led to another. Eight and a half months later, I get Rose."

"What's her full name again?" Hermione asked.

"Rhosymedre Elizabeth Potter."

"That's a pretty name, is it Gaelic?"

"I'm not sure, Rose's mum picked it. It means 'lovely' and it's also the name of a piece of music or something," Harry shrugged as he headed back to the group, his plate filled with food. Rose was back asleep, and currently in Tonks' arms. Harry noticed that Remus kept shooting her glances, and wondered if Remus was imagining what their children might look like; they'd been dating for a few months.

"Well I like it, and Rose is a nice nick-name too."

"Yeah, I decided that Rhosymedre is too long a name for one so little," Harry grinned down at his daughter as he took her from Gabrielle. "Isn't it, sweetheart?"

"You know, you're going to be even more popular with the ladies at school once they know you're a _sweet, sensitive father_," George joked as Harry began eating with one-hand, his plate balanced on his lap.

"And I don't care," Harry said firmly, a hard glint in his eyes. "My daughter comes first in my life now."

"Spoken like a true father," Arthur nodded approvingly.

"Thanks. But really, enough about me, this party's for you two, right?" Harry looked to Bill and Fleur. "How's everything coming? The wedding's tomorrow, right?"

"It's good. I think we've actually got everything planned. It's just going to be a small wedding," Bill spoke.

"Or at least as small as a Weasley family gathering can be," Ginny muttered off to the side.

"Charlie's going to stand up with me," Bill continued, ignoring Ginny's comment.

"And Gabrielle will be my attendant," Fleur smiled brightly at her sister. Harry almost laughed as some of the Weasleys had to shake their heads clear.

"It's just going to be all of us red-heads, Gabrielle, you and Rose, Hermione, Remus, Tonks, and the other Order members," Bill kissed Fleur's hand.

"And when is it again?"

"Zis Saturday," Gabrielle clapped her hands in excitement. "I can 'ardly wait! Ze wedding, and zen dancing afterwards!"

"I assume dress robes are required?"

"Yeah," Ron answered glumly.

"I've already got ours. Picked some out yesterday at Madame Malkins," Harry grinned; Ron hated dressing up, and he hated dancing too. Harry had gotten a few lessons from Lacey one afternoon when he had been telling her about the ball his school had held his fourth year. She had immediately given him a few tips, and then taught him the basics of several types of dances, so he could at least hold his own and not look like a complete novice.

"No whining Ronniekins, especially since you've got new robes yourself-with_out_ lace," Bill teased him, and everyone laughed as Ron's ears reddened.

They spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening talking and eating, and just enjoying the beautiful day. As the sky began to darken, everyone began helping Molly clean things up, and get things back inside where they belonged. That done, Molly sent them off to bed so they'd be fresh and well-rested for the wedding, which was the next morning at eleven, with lunch and dancing afterwards.

"Where you going Harry?" Ron asked as he continued to walk down the hall, past the room he usually shared with Ron. Ginny and Hermione stopped across the hall at the door to their room to listen.

"To my room," he nodded his head towards Rose who was sleeping in his arms. "I didn't want to bother anyone with her fussing during the night, so I took a room at the end of the hall."

"Need any help putting her down?" Hermione offered.

"I've got things down by now, but you guys can watch if you want," Harry shrugged and continued down the hall, now followed by Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Fred and George, who had also caught wind of the conversation.

"Where's all her stuff?" Ron asked.

"In the smaller trunk," Harry walked over and put Rose in Ron's arms. "Here, hold her while I get her stuff out."

"I don't know how to hold her!" Ron looked panicked as Ginny helped him get Rose settled.

"Well I suppose you had better learn, since you're her Uncle Ron and all," Harry grinned at the squeak he heard from Ron. He pulled out the crib and the changing table, setting them up against one of the walls. Pulling out a warm onesie, he set it on the changing table and took Rose back from Ron.

"Uncle Ron?"

"Yeah, and Aunt Hermione, and Aunt Ginny, and Uncles Gred and Forge," Harry changed Rose into the onesie, wrapping her up in a blanket and laying her down in her crib. "Well, that's it. Not that I don't love talking with you guys, but I'm really tired. I'm used to taking naps during the day when she does, since I get up with her at night."

"Sorry mate," George spoke. "I guess seeing you with a daughter is still such a novel concept to us, that we find it interesting to watch you."

"Night Harry, see ya in the morning," Fred gave a wave and followed his twin out of the room.

"Same goes for us," Ron gave a sheepish smile. "It's still just odd to think of you as a dad now, and not 'just Harry' anymore."

"Yeah, it's still odd to me too," Harry grinned back at him.

"Night Harry," Hermione kissed his cheek, as did Ginny, and the two of them left.

"You know I'm not good at stuff like this, but thanks, for the whole Uncle thing," Ron walked over to Rhosymedre's crib, running a finger over her cheek. "She's cute."

"I like to think so, but I'm probably partial."

"Nah, you're going to be fighting off the boys with a stick when she gets older."

"No I won't, cause she won't be dating," Harry shared a laugh with Ron. "I'll use my status as the Boy-Who-Killed-Voldemort to get a decree passed saying she can't date."

"Yeah," Ron laughed again, and gave Rose another look. "Well I'd better let you get to sleep. See ya in the morning Harry."

"Night Ron," Harry closed the door behind him, and turning back, threw himself on the bed, and fell asleep immediately.

* * *

"Are you awake 'arry?" Fleur's voice drifted into Harry's dream, waking him up.

"Yeah," he yawned, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "What do you need? What time is it anyways?"

"It eez almost seven, and what I need from you, eez a favour," Fleur sat down on his bed, and clasped his hand in hers rather dramatically.

"Uh, sure," Harry ran his free hand over his face and through his hair to wake himself up a bit as he yawned again. Seven was horribly early, especially with getting up during the night, and not getting your naps the day before.

"Az you know, my Muzzer and Fa'zer are no longer with us," Fleur said, and Harry nodded; they had been killed in the war. "And I know I could ask Arthur, but you are my clozest and dearest friend here, and very much like a bro'zer to me, so I would like to ask eef you, and Rose too of course, would walk me down ze aisle and give me away?"

"Huh?" Harry looked dumbfounded for a moment. "Uh yeah, I mean, I'd be honoured. And so would Rose."

"Splendid!" She leaned forward and kissed each of his cheeks. "I will see you in my room at a quarter till eleven!"

"Sure," Harry nodded as Fleur stood up and left the room. "Well that was a wake-up call. You up sweetheart?"

Harry walked over to the crib and saw that she was still asleep. Keeping the door open, he grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom, showering quickly. Back in the room, he dressed in a pair of sweats and a black muscle-tee, since he didn't need to put on his dress robes yet. Scooping up a waking Rose, he fed her, then undressed her and wrapped her up in a blanket. He grabbed the baby shampoo and wash mitt, and took her downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning Harry," Arthur greeted.

"Morning Mr. Weasley," Harry nodded back, fighting a laugh as he looked around. Most of the others were there, but looking extremely tired. Ginny and Hermione, along with Mr. Weasley, were the only ones who looked awake. Bill, Charlie, the twins, and Ron still looked asleep in their seats, even though there was food on the table.

"How's Rose doing?" Arthur smiled.

"Good, I'm just going to give her a bath," Harry said as he turned on the kitchen faucet and adjusted the temperature. "This sink's bigger than the one upstairs. Is that all right?"

"Go ahead; Molly's upstairs with Gabrielle and Fleur, helping them get ready."

"Thanks," Harry smiled as he put the plug in the sink, letting it fill up several inches.

Keeping one arm securely around her, he lowered her into the warm water. She made a happy noise, her arms moving reflexively, smacking the water, splashing him. A yelp behind him told him that Ron had been hit with a few drops.

"Guess that's just her way of telling you that you need a shower mate," Harry laughed.

"Oh shut up," Ron mumbled. "And tell Rose no splashing. I'm awake, all right?"

"I'll be sure to pass it on," Harry laughed again as he started washing her hair carefully. Her hair had grown out a bit, and was a couple inches long, dark brown, and slightly wavy.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving her a bath."

"Well yeah, I knew that," Ron rolled his eyes as he walked over to stand next to him. "But what's that thing for?"

"This is a wash mitt," Harry said as he grabbed Ron's arm and put it around Rose, sticking the wash mitt on his other hand. "You use it to scrub her. It's easier than using a normal washcloth, not to mention this is nice and soft so it won't irritate her skin. You can finish washing her for me while I grab a bite to eat."

"Aw look, our ickle Ronniekins is getting daddy practice," Fred teased.

"Yeah well, I'm not going to make you an uncle any time soon," Ron glared. "Talk to Bill and Fleur about that."

"I think we're going to wait a few years till we get settled financially, and everything else," Bill shook his head. "Guess you can just content yourself with spoiling Rose."

"Please don't," Harry grinned. "She's gonna have enough people trying to send her stuff once it gets out that she's my daughter."

"Yeah, I can just see the Daily Prophet now," Ginny giggled. "**Princess Potter Celebrates First Birthday**. She's going to be getting gifts from the entirety of the wizarding world. And you; you'll probably get even more marriage proposals."

"Marriage proposals?" George perked up at that.

"Ginny," Harry groaned, dropping his head in his hands as Hermione and Ron laughed.

"After the war, Harry received a number of letters from both eligible, and not-so-eligible witches, offering themselves as wives," Hermione explained with a smile.

"Whoo, way to go Harry, you're such a ladies man," Charlie punched him in the shoulder teasingly.

"Oh please," Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't want the attention, you can feel free to take it."

"No thanks, I don't think I'd be able to handle being in the limelight," Charlie shook his head.

"Harry, mate, I think she's getting fussy," Ron sounded panicky.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Harry said soothingly as he picked her up and wrapped the blanket around her, drying her off. "You're fine."

"What are you all doing?!" Molly entered the kitchen looking flustered. "We have a wedding in three hours! It's eight o'clock, and you all should be getting ready! And where are Tonks and Remus?!"

Molly rushed out of the kitchen again without waiting for any answers from them. Everyone exchanged looks of amusement; they knew Molly was excited and anxious about the wedding all at once. Finishing up their breakfast, they began leaving the kitchen and heading to their rooms to get ready. Harry didn't feel the need to go and get ready just yet, and took Rose back upstairs and put a nappy on her, and then took her back downstairs, and outside to enjoy the fresh morning air.

The wedding was going to be outdoors, and Harry thought everything looked rather nice. There were a few rows of white benches on either side of an aisle. From what Harry remembered Molly talking about the day before, doves would be conjured to pull a white aisle cloth into place just before he would walk Fleur down. Though he didn't think anyone knew he was doing that yet. As of yesterday, Fleur was just going to walk down by herself. He felt kind of honoured to be asked, as it showed she considered him a close friend. At the end of the aisle was a white garden arch that had ivy threaded through it, along with strategically placed white lilies, babies breath, white carnation, and blue roses.

"I suppose we should head in now," Harry glanced at his watch and saw it was just after ten.

Standing up with a sigh, he headed back inside and up to his room. It didn't take him long to dress in light brown dress pants and a white shirt, his green dress robes on over top. Picking up Rose from her crib, and laid her on the changing table. He grabbed the pair of white tights he had bought with Lacey, and maneuvered them on with a bit of difficulty. Next, he dressed her in the light green dress robe, carefully pulling it into place. It was a simple gown, made of a light-weight satiny feeling material, though he didn't know what exactly. He put on her white patent-leather dress shoes next, marveling at how tiny they were. Finally he put on the over robe, which had long sleeves, and was open in the front, though it was held together with a white ribbon tie in front. The final touch was a green stretchy headband made of similar material as the dress robe.

"You know, I'll have to make sure we get some pictures of us today," Harry kissed her forehead. "You look awfully cute, if I do say so myself. And I need more pictures of you. I've got the ones from when you were just born, but not too many after that. Guess that's probably cause I don't like the camera much."

Harry checked his appearance in the mirror one last time, and then headed downstairs to where Molly, Gabrielle, and Fleur were using the library as their dressing room. He knocked on the door, and waited for someone to answer.

"Harry, oh you look so handsome dear," Molly beamed at him. "What are you doing here? It's almost time for us to be leaving."

"Hey Mrs. Weasley," Harry greeted. "I'm here to walk Fleur down the aisle."

"Oh! Well you best come in then. I have to leave and take my seat now," Molly patted his cheek affectionately, and bustled out of the room, looking pretty in a lilac coloured dress robe.

"Hey Fleur…wow, you look beautiful," Harry stared at her. "Bill's not going to be able to speak when he sees you."

"That's so sweet of you to say 'arry," Fleur kissed his cheeks. She did look like an angel in the white strapless gown with intricate beading on it, and a flowing skirt with a short train. Her long blond hair had been curled and put up in an intricate mass, with sprigs of baby's breath threaded in it, just visible underneath the veil she wore.

"You look very pretty too Gabrielle," Harry complimented the other young woman in the room, dressed in a light blue gown.

"Thank you 'arry," she beamed at him, and facing that part-veela charm head on, Harry had to keep his mind from succumbing.

"So should we go?" Harry asked them.

"Charlie should be 'ere in a moment to escort me," Gabby shook her head. "Then we may leave."

A knock sounded at that precise moment, and Charlie poked his head in, grinning at them before stepping in. He was wearing dark blue dress robes that complimented Gabby's quite nicely.

"Hope I'm not too late," Charlie shrugged a shoulder apologetically.

"No, you are just perfect," Gabby pranced over and linked her arm through his, and pulled him back out the door.

"Shall we?" Harry shifted Rose into his left arm, and held out his right for Fleur to take.

"I theenk I shall faint, I 'ave so many butterflies in my stomach," she whispered conspiratorially in his ear.

"You'll be fine, you love him, and he loves you," Harry moved his arm so he could grab her hand and gave it a squeeze before moving it back.

"You are right, I know," she beamed up at him as they waited just inside the back door for their music cue. "Thank you again for zis, eet means so much."

Harry didn't get a chance to do anything other than smile, for at that moment a delicate melody began playing, and the door opened, the doves flying out and dropping the aisle cloth as Harry walked her down the steps, and up the aisle slowly. He passed Fleur to an awe-struck smiling Bill, and took his seat in front next to a surprised looking Professor McGonagall; he knew he was going to have to explain everything all over again. The wedding went smoothly, though Harry got worried for a minute when most of the women had handkerchiefs out and were wiping their eyes. Soon though, Professor Dumbledore finished presiding over the wedding, and announced Bill and Fleur to be man and wife to the cheers of everyone.

"Hello Mister Potter," Professor McGonagall looked at him evenly as she sat down next to him at one of the tables that had replaced the benches. Professor Snape also joined them, sitting next to Professor McGonagall who was now looking pointedly at the infant in his arms.

"Hello Professors," Harry sighed, deciding just to get it over with. "Meet my daughter Rhosymedre Elizabeth."

"Daughter?" Snape was the one who replied, as it didn't appear that Professor McGonagall was about to speak.

"Yes," Harry nodded, and Snape gave a snort.

"Well I hope the rest of your summer was less uneventful."

"Sure, if you count my Aunt dying and my Uncle kicking me out, and me spending a month in a shoddy London motel," Harry shrugged, grinning, as with each statement, Professor McGonagall's eyes widened a bit more.

"Well that's good that nothing extraordinary happened," Snape inclined his head slightly, smirking. Since the war had ended, he had become less of a snarky git, though that was still very much of his personality, so he hadn't made a complete one-eighty from before.

"Daughter!?" Professor McGonagall gasped finally.

"Yes," Harry grinned again, shifting her in his arm so he could eat more easily. "I know, bit of a shock and all that. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to get used to her since she'll be coming with me to Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore already said it was fine."

"She'll not be attending classes," Severus half questioned, half stated, eyebrow raised again.

"Well not yours," Harry laughed. "I'll bring her to some of them, like charms and transfiguration; just some of the less dangerous ones. The rest of the time I'm still not sure. I'm hoping Madame Pomphrey will be able to help."

"How old is she? Where's the mother? How did this happen?" Professor McGonagall seemed to get her voice back.

"Why does everyone ask that first thing?" Harry grumbled in reference to that last question. "She's a month old, and her mum's dead. It wasn't planned, but I'm going to take care of her."

"I can't say I'm pleased that one of my Gryffindors was so irresponsible," she gave him a stern glare. "But I'm happy that you're taking responsibility for your actions. Now, may I hold her?"

"Thanks Professor," Harry smiled, passing her over. As much as he loved holding her, it was nice to have a break and to eat using both hands. Especially on a day like this, when he had her all day, as he didn't want to leave her alone in the house in the crib.

"And what did you name her again?" Severus asked.

"Her mum picked the name, Rhosymedre Elizabeth."

"Rather big for one so small," he commented with amusement. "Though I suppose she'll grow into it."

"That's the same thing I said."

"Horror of all horrors," Severus gave a mock-sneer. "I'm sounding like you."

"Could be worse, couldn't it professor?" Harry laughed, taking Rose back as lunch winded down, and Lee Jordan, the deejay got set up and announced Bill and Fleur would have their first dance. It wasn't a song he knew, but it was pretty, if a little sappy for his tastes. Molly was crying happily, and snapping pictures, as were a number of people; cameras had been left on the tables for the guests to take pictures of everything. They'd then be collected and developed, and Bill and Fleur would use them to make a wedding album.

"And now, the groom would like to share a dance with his mother, while the bride would like to ask her…brother…?" Lee's voice was understandably filled with confusion.

"Guess that's me," Harry sighed, looking down at Rose.

"Here," Severus offered, and took Rose as he headed to the dance floor where another slow song was starting to play.

"So I'm your brother now?" Harry grinned down at Fleur as he confidently took hold of her hand, his other hand splayed across her mid-back. He led her into the very basic box step that worked well for this rhythm.

"Yes," she beamed back at him. "Your dancing 'as eemproved."

"I've had a couple of lessons," he nodded, leading her through a series of turns that looked fancy and complicated, but were truthfully _really_ easy to do.

"Eet shows," she laughed happily as he spun her out, then pulled her back in. "Zat was fun!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Harry grinned, noticing the looks of surprise on his friend's faces at his new-found skills. Unlike most times, he didn't really mind being in the limelight here because firstly, it was for Fleur, and secondly, it was for something he had worked hard to learn, not just accidentally do as a baby.

"Thank you," she kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly as the song ended a couple minutes later.

"You're welcome," he returned the kiss, and then handed her off to Bill.

"I see your dancing has improved since fourth year," Professor McGonagall appraised him approvingly.

"I had a friend give me a few lessons," he replied, taking Rose back. "Thanks for holding her."

"Babies aren't so deplorable as older children," Severus raised an eyebrow. "Though if you tell anyone I said that I will deny it and hex you six ways from Sunday."

"Got it, sir," he nodded, laughing, and then went to join his friends after bidding the two good-bye.

"Fancy moves Harry," Ginny greeted him as he sat down with her, Ron, Hermione, and the twins.

"Not really, they just look it," he shrugged. "I had a couple lessons from a friend is all."

"Ooh, Harry's got a girlfriend," Fred and George chorused together.

"Hah hah, very funny," he rolled his eyes. "You already know my feelings about that."

"Yes we do," they chorused again, and went off to see Tonks and Remus. Ginny went to go talk with her mum.

"They're so happy, aren't they?" Hermione gave a little sigh as they watched Bill and Fleur dance, so lost in each other it seemed as if they didn't even realise people were all around them.

"Yeah, and to think, Bill almost messed everything up," Ron laughed.

"Really? How?" Harry questioned.

"Well he had met Fleur through the Order of course, but hadn't gotten up the courage to talk to her till Tonks nearly forced him to do it. That was when he finally realised he loved her, and promptly told her so as soon as he took her on a date."

"I think she said she had loved him since she met him," Hermione laughed. "It seems everyone knew that too, except Bill."

"Kind of like you and Ron," Harry stated, thinking it was worth a shot; they would be good for each other in his opinion.

"No Harry, not like Hermione and I at all," Ron spoke up this time. "We are both well aware of our feelings. We just happen to be deathly afraid of what that means at times."

"If you two both know you have something, then why aren't you together?"

"Well we are together, just in private," Hermione gave Ron a fond smile.

"We haven't exactly wanted to announce it to the world," Ron nodded. "We've been enjoying just getting to know each other on this level. Not to mention my mum's _scary_! If you even mention a girlfriend then she'll start making wedding plans."

"Well now's a good time to tell her then, since the wedding's already done," Harry pressed.

"I'm game if you are, love," Ron took Hermione's hand in his.

"You know I'd love for everyone to know," she beamed at him.

As the song ended, Ron marched over to the deejay table, grabbed the microphone from Lee, and proudly announced that he and Hermione were dating. Everyone laughed at his announcement, and clapped and cheered as he pulled Hermione into his arms, dipped her, and kissed her soundly, much to her embarrassment. Harry had to laugh as Hermione swatted his arm once he brought her back up, her face bright red. Molly did, as Ron had predicted, make a big fuss over the two of them. Lee got the music started back up though, and Arthur soon led her away for a dance. Harry was content to spend the rest of the afternoon holding Rose, and watching everyone else dance. However, when the reception started winding down, Harry was glad to go inside to put Rose down for another nap. It had been a long day, what with getting up early for the wedding, and the whole reception. So after putting Rose in her crib, Harry threw himself on his bed with a sigh of contentment, and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: Okay, that's it for chapter five. Hope you all enjoyed; it was a longer one than my others. As always, leave a review if you like, but it's all right if you don't. Either way, thanks for reading! Next chapter up in a few days. 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey y'all, thanks for the reviews! You guys are totally awesome! Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Six

Harry was awoken from his nap by the sound of knocking on his door. Unluckily for him, the knocking also woke up Rose, and she started crying. The door opened to reveal an apologetic Ron standing there.

"Sorry Harry," he apologised as he walked in, and over to Rose's crib.

"Do me a favour and pick her up, will you?" Harry asked as he got up from the bed, intent on changing.

"You know I'm not great with babies," Ron's eyes were wide.

"Just use one hand to support her head and neck, and the other under her bottom, then just maneuver her so she's in your arms like before," Harry directed through a yawn as he stripped off his robe, pants and shirt, leaving him in boxers. As Ron got Rose, Harry quickly pulled on the jeans and black muscle tee he'd worn that morning, and then took Rose from Ron.

"I know sweetheart, you're tired of wearing the formal stuff like I was," Harry tickled her feet as he tugged off the stockings, then the over-robe, and finally, the dressrobe. He re-dressed her in a pair of jeans, and a long-sleeved pink shirt, pulling on a plain black robe over it all.

"Just like a respectable witch," Ron chuckled. "Except in miniature."

"I guess," Harry shrugged, and kissed her cheek. "Ready to go grab some dinner sweetheart? I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Lunch seems like an awfully long time ago."

"You're telling me!" Ron interjected. "I'm starving!"

"I'm sure you're not," Harry laughed, putting on the sling and tucking Rose into it. "But c'mon. I'm sure your mum has something ready for dinner."

"You know, this is a bit off topic, but you could call her mum too, if you wanted," Ron posed hesitantly as they walked out of his room. "You're my brother, blood or not, and the others feel the same, and I know mum considers you a son. And she's not trying to replace your mum and dad or anything."

"I know," Harry grinned, and gave Ron a one-armed hug around the shoulder. "Thanks mate. I think I'd like that. I almost have a couple times before, but I wasn't ever sure what she'd think."

"Well now you know," Ron grinned back, and looped his arm over Harry's shoulders. "Just be warned, you're getting five other brothers, and three sisters, counting Fleur and Gabby."

"Well you're getting a niece out of the deal."

"Yeah, and I'm definitely getting the better end of the deal," Ron joked as they entered the kitchen.

"There you boys are!" Molly exclaimed. "I was just about to send Hermione and Ginny to find you two. Hurry and wash up now, we've just sat down to eat."

"Sorry Mum," Harry apologised, walking to the sink to wash. He stopped when Molly clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes tearing up.

"Oh Harry," she murmured.

"I'm sorry! It's just that Ron said it was okay!" Harry was quick to apologise again, thinking Ron had gotten things wrong.

"No! I'm just so happy!" She burst into tears, and rushed over to envelope him and Rose in a careful hug. "I love you like a son you know."

"I know," Harry handed Rose to Charlie, and then fully hugged her back. "Love you too Mum."

"Group hug!" Fred and George yelled in unison, running over to throw their arms around the two.

"It's official, you're a Weasley," Bill joked as he and Fleur joined everyone.

"Poor you Harry," Ginny teased as she slid an arm around his waist, squeezing in between him and George.

"C'mon Hermione," Charlie called. "You're as good as a Weasley."

"Yeah, and if Ron ever gets around to proposing then you'll be one officially," Percy added in a rare moment of teasing. He had been on the outs with the family for a while, but then came back several months before the war, upon the news that Voldemort was indeed back. It had been a frosty reception at first, but soon their relationship was on the mend.

"Not till school's done at least," Ron shot back.

His brothers all cheered and whistled, and Hermione blushed and walked over to bury her face against Ron's chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he ran a hand up and down her back comfortingly. Ron's ears turned bright red, and he rested his head against hers, though he made no amendments to what he had said.

"Oh I think I'm so happy I could burst!" Molly clapped her hands, taking a handkerchief from Arthur and wiping off her face.

"No bursting Mum, cause then who would cook meals?" Fred joked. "You know we're all helpless."

"Hey, speak for yourself!" Harry laughed. "I can cook really well for your information."

"Lovely, you can make breakfast tomorrow then," Molly teased with a laugh as they all moved to sit back down.

"Sure," Harry nodded, and stopped her when she went to protest. "Really, I like cooking. Just let me know where everything is so I can get it done."

"Oh no, we're all going to die from food poisoning," Remus pretended to choke; he and Tonks were standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Very funny," Harry stuck out his tongue.

"I thought so, glad you did too," Remus quipped as he and Tonks sat down and began eating. "So why's everyone so happy?"

"Well besides the wedding?" Ginny answered. "We just had a lovely family bonding moment after Harry called Mum, 'mum' and all."

"Oh how nice," Tonks yawned, leaning her head against Remus' shoulder as she sipped a cup of strong, hot, tea. "Too bad I can't stay here. I don't want to work."

"Well it's only for a few hours," Remus soothed her, running a hand up and down her arm as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Yeah, I know," she gave a resign sigh, then sat up straight. "Oh, I forgot. Earlier at the wedding, Dumbledore told me to let you all know that we'll be going to Diagon Alley in two weeks to get all your things. And Harry," she turned to look at him. "You can bring Rose, or you can leave her here with someone to baby-sit."

"I think I'll bring her along," he smiled down at his daughter who was awake and sucking on her bottle nipple, though she wasn't drinking. "Not that I don't trust anyone to watch her, but we just haven't been apart, and I think I'd suffer from separation anxiety." Harry gave a short laugh at that as he took the bottle away and replaced it with a pacifier. "Try that instead sweetheart."

"You know Harry, we're hurt," Fred started.

"Yeah, you never call _us_ sweetheart," George finished.

"Don't you love us anymore?" They pouted together.

"Sorry, I've got a new girl in my life," he laughed along with everyone else.

* * *

The next two weeks passed slowly and peacefully for Harry and the other residents of Grimmauld Place. Harry's breakfast that first morning was a hit, and so he continued to cook each morning as he was usually up with Rose anyways. Rose seemed especially intrigued, as much as an infant can be, by the magic he did, and always cooed when he'd cast a spell.

Harry was enjoying the quiet and relaxing days, and quickly fell into a routine. He'd wake up and get Rose ready, then go down and make breakfast. Mornings were spent doing any chores that Molly set out for them to do, followed by lunch. Afternoons, he, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny would work on summer homework assignments, as well as doing some review over the past six years worth of material. This was fairly critical for the three seventh year-to-bes as they had NEWTS this upcoming year. After studying they split up for a couple hours; Harry usually went to take a nap along with Rose, waking up for dinner. Evenings were spent playing quidditch or games with everyone. Harry also made sure to bring Hedwig out to exercise her, and spend some time with her. True, she could leave her cage any time she wished, but they both enjoyed spending time together.

The morning they were to go to Diagon Alley, it was dark and rainy, to Harry's delight. He enjoyed sunny days of course, but for some inexplicable reason, he wasn't too keen on people finding out about Rose till he was back at school, where he knew he could keep her safe from prying reporter eyes. The rain simply gave Harry an excuse to wear a slightly larger cloak to cover him, as well as Rose in her sling. The downside was that it ensured that the trip would just be a quick one, with everyone splitting up to get things done faster. Molly would take Ron and Ginny to get everyone's robes; she had taken their measurements the night before. Hermione would go pick up books, and Harry would pick up their yearly potion's ingredients, as well as owl treats for Pig and Hedwig.

"Now remember, meet back here in one hour!" Molly reminded as they gathered around the front of Gringotts. They had all picked up some money; well, Hermione had exchanged some pounds, and Harry just stayed with her, having his Gringotts card and some money already.

With nods and acknowledgment of the instructions, they all pulled their hoods up, made sure water-repelling charms were in place, and quickly headed into the alley. Harry was amazed to see that even with the rain, it was still fairly busy. Of course, there were only two weeks till school began, so no doubt everyone was shopping for the term. Gathering his cloak tightly around him, and checking that Rose was warm and covered, he strode to the apothecary and gratefully stepped inside. He kept his hood up even though he could see it made some people nervous, and waited in line till he could place his orders for himself, and Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. That done, he happily made his way to the magical menagerie.

"Good afternoon," the old man behind the counter greeted him as he entered. Not seeing anyone around, surprisingly, Harry pushed his hood back.

"Afternoon," Harry nodded, and headed down one of the narrow aisles to the back of the store where the owl supplies were located.

He grabbed two containers of owl treats, and started to head back to the front of the store. A sudden tingling in his mind however caused him to make a right and head into the square of space where the animals were. He felt drawn to a cage that held a large boa constrictor. It was varying shades of black, green, and tan. Quite pretty looking, he thought.

"**I know I am**." Harry gasped, wondering where that voice in his mind had come from.

"**From me**," the snake hissed.

"What's going on?" He asked out loud.

"**What's going on is that I'm your familiar. Well, both yours and the child's familiar. That tingling you felt upon stepping in the store was our connection waking up. It's gone now because you've recognised me as having a bond with you**."

"That's a bit confusing," Harry looked at the snake.

"**All wizards and witches have familiars; an animal that can bond with them, and share a telepathic link.**"

"So what do I need to do now…buy you?"

"**Yes**," she hissed

"But what about my owl?" Harry asked. "And the school rule only allowing one pet?"

"**Technicalities**," the snake huffed. "**You may only be allowed one _pet_, which is your owl. However, I am your _familiar_. So you see, you still have only one pet**."

"Fine, fine…just let me get the store owner," Harry rubbed a hand over his forehead. He knew he couldn't leave her if she was indeed a familiar; he remembered how important they could be from a lecture of Hermione's. However, why'd he have to end up with one of them, when he already had an owl, and his daughter to contend with? "Excuse me sir, I'd like to buy that boa constrictor please."

"Is that all?" The shopkeeper asked as he grabbed the ring of keys and began to search through them for the right one.

"**Do I need a cage for you**?" Harry directed his thoughts to the snake.

"**I'm your familiar**," the snake replied haughtily, and it occurred to Harry that she was a snob.

"Just these owl treats," Harry answered the shopkeeper, handing over his Gringotts card. "Thanks."

"Here are the owl treats," the shopkeeper handed him a bag, which Harry tucked in at Rose's feet. "And here is your snake. Good luck with her, she's been a handful here."

"I can imagine," Harry refrained from rolling his eyes as he let the snake wrap herself around his shoulders and waist, careful of Rose in the sling.

"Have a pleasant day," the shopkeeper smiled, and pulling his hood up, Harry left the store and walked back out into the rain after casting an invisibility charm on them.

"**I'm getting my scales wet**," the snake sniffed with displeasure, eyeing the people on the street with some degree of superiority, which Harry found quite funny.

"Here then," Harry cast a water-repelling charm on her. "What's your name anyhow? Or am I suppose to name you?"

"**I'm Duchess**," the snake hissed.

"All right then," Harry stopped and made sure she was paying attention. "Hey, do you have to come home with me, or can you apparate there? I seem to remember a friend of mine mentioning something about familiars being able to transport themselves."

"**I don't exactly apparate, though it's a similar concept I suppose. Rather akin to what a phoenix does. I call it flashing**," Duchess answered. "**And yes, we, meaning familiars, can transport ourselves so if our wizard or witch ever gets in trouble, we can go help.**"

"Well then do me a favour and flash back to my room," Harry asked, and a moment later, she was gone with a dim flash of light. "Good. That'll at least save the awkward explanations till I get home. What is it with me and getting into odd situations? A familiar! And not just a nice, normal, small snake either, but a huge thirteen foot one. I must be cursed! First Voldemort, now this!"

"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity you know," a low, melodic, yet articulate voice with a hint of mischief in it came from behind him.

"I'm not insane," he defended himself as he turned to see a Slytherin sixth year, though he wasn't sure of her name.

"Denial is the second," she smirked, motioning for him to come stand with her. "Really Potter, the last thing our world needs is for it's hero to lose his mind."

"Danielle?" He questioned, moving under the doorway to avoid the rain.

"Daphne. Daphne Greengrass, at your service," she gave a mocking curtsy. "So glad you know my name Potter, since I'm just a lowly Slytherin."

"Oh please, our houses have never gotten along," he rolled his eyes. "Besides, house has nothing to do with it. I don't know a lot of sixth year's names, even in my _own_ house."

"Well you can learn now. Especially with Voldemort gone, some of us are free to show where our true allegiances lie."

"And yours would be where?"

"Not with Voldemort, but not with you and the Order of the flaming pigeon either," she laughed, and Harry was somewhat surprised at how warm and genuine it sounded. "I'm a Slytherin, yes, and I'm fascinated by the Dark Arts, yes, but I side with no one but myself, and my friends. We're as loyal as the puffs when we choose."

"Lovely, thanks for that information," Harry raised an eyebrow. "Now is there some reason you're talking with me? Not that the conversation isn't _utterly_ fascinating, but I do need to meet up with my friends soon."

"Do I need a reason to talk to a fellow classmate?" She raised an eyebrow right back. He held her gaze till she rolled her eyes with a sigh. "All right. The headmaster is advancing me to join the seventh year class. However, I need to bring my grade in DADA up a bit, so he recommended owling you about that defense group of yours. Of course, I figured it'd be easier to just speak with you here when I recognized your voice."

"Sure. I don't know when we'll be meeting. There'll be notices for an interest meeting posted within the first couple of weeks, but then it'll be a while. We have to figure out what times work for people, and testing new members, and I've got Rose to deal with-" Harry stopped short. He hadn't quite meant to let that slip.

"Rose?" Daphne's curiosity was piqued. "The boy-who-lived has a _girlfriend_? How utterly adorable."

"Cut the sarcasm," he snapped. "And no, Rose is my daughter."

"Daughter?" Both her eyebrows shot up towards her hairline at his blunt declaration.

"Yeah, daughter," his tone softened as Rose stirred in the sling. He pulled back the cloak to reveal the slowly awakening infant.

"Hmm. Looks like there are some things you can do without messing up," she smirked, looking at the infant. "Not bad Potter."

"You know, my name's Harry, you could try using it."

"And why would I want to do that? Potter has such a nice ring to it."

"Because then I would have to return the favour and call you Greengrass, and that's such a mouthful."

"Not my problem, is it?" She laughed again, and pulled her hood up. "See you in school Potter."

"Greengrass," he nodded, and watched her go for a minute. He looked down at Rose. "That was odd. Though it was kind of fun to banter with her like that. Gave me a chance to use my Slytherin side, huh? Just promise me you'll not take after me in that regard. I don't think I could handle you twisting all your Uncles and me around your finger any time you please. All right, sweetheart?"

Rose just yawned, and began sucking on the pacifier Harry gave her. Harry grinned, and checked his watch. Seeing he had a good ten minutes, he went to Madam Malkin's to pick up a few more robes for Rose, and ducked inside. Madam Malkin and her assistants were busy with a number of students, measuring, cutting, and using sewing charms, as well as sizing charms on finished robes. She caught sight of him and motioned him over for a minute.

"Mister Potter, I have a few things I made up I thought you might like," she smiled, grabbing a small bag from behind the counter. Out of it she pulled five infant robes, black, with the Hogwarts crest on them, and the four main house colours, red, green, blue, and yellow, embroidered around the sleeves and hem. "For the little one. I thought of making them Gryffindor, but thought there's no guarantee she'll end up there, and thought it best to go with these. They'll also grow with her, up until she's about two or so."

"These are really neat!" Harry smiled brightly, looking at one of the robes with delight. "I was going to just pick up a few more plain robes, but these are better. Thank you! How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing for these," Madam Malkin blushed slightly at his praise. "Your thanks is more than enough."

"Thank you," he smiled again, and pulled his robe back a bit so she could see Rose. "And she'd thank you too, if she could speak."

"Oh you charmer," she gave his arm a squeeze before hurrying over to help one of her assistants.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late," Harry said upon arriving in the Leaky Cauldron.

"You're just on time Harry. We were a bit early," Hermione assured him. "Did you get everything?"

"Yeah, got it here," he held up the bags. "And a bit more besides."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron asked curiously.

"I'll explain back at home," Harry grinned. "Race you back."

"Everyone ready?" She asked. "Right then, you three go ahead and apparate."

Harry with Rose, Ron, and Hermione appeared in the living room with a pop. Molly and Ginny appeared a few minutes later, and were almost squished by Fred and George who apparated in a second after them.

"Sorry Mum!" They apologised as one, helping them gather the dropped packages.

"What are you doing home? Dinner's not for a couple hours yet," Molly questioned.

"We've closed up early for the day; the rain was keeping people away," Fred shrugged.

"Yeah, most of the people were just picking up necessities, and while we would argue that pranks are necessary, apparently most parents wouldn't agree with us," George shrugged too, then he and Fred tramped up the stairs to their room.

"Dinner's at seven," Molly called behind them, then turned to face the four of them. "All right you lot, you're on your own till dinner, though I recommend that you go ahead and start packing up the things you don't need just now, like some of your books and school robes and such. Dinner at seven, so be prompt please."

"Sure Mum," Ron spoke for all of them, and they clamored up the stairs too.

"Come down to my room once you guys drop off your stuff," Harry called to them as he headed down the hall to his room.

"**Finally!** **You've been gone for _ages_ you know**," Duchess twined around his legs.

"**It hasn't even been a half hour**," he hissed to her with a laugh

"**Whatever. I'm bored**," Duchess started to climb up him, though she stopped as soon as Harry's door opened, admitting Hermione, Ginny, and Ron.

"Oh Harry!" Hermione gasped as she, Ron, and Ginny saw the large snake that slowly slid off him and slithered over to them. "It's beautiful! But why, how?"

"Apparently she's my familiar, as she so kindly informed me in the menagerie," Harry drawled as he eyed the snake.

"Harry, what's it doing?" Ron stammered, eyes wide as Duchess wound herself up him, her tongue flicking out at his hair.

"_She_, Duchess, is intrigued by your red hair," Harry answered with a laugh after listening to the snake. "She thinks it's _pretty_."

"Oh," Ron started to reach up to pet her, then paused. "Will she bite me or anything if I try to pet her?"

"No, just don't scratch her."

"Oh Harry, to have a familiar at such a young age is so rare," Hermione informed him, lavishing attention on Duchess, who was quite enjoying the attention. "Most wizards or witches don't get one till they're a good deal older, or if they're really powerful; like Professor Dumbledore or Voldemort."

"Well technically she's mine, and Rose's," Harry informed her as he finally set his packages down and took his cloak off. He walked over to set Rose in her crib, the mobile over her. "Though I guess since she's not quite old enough, Duchess is mainly going to be mine."

"Still," Hermione sighed with envy.

"I know, I guess I'm just a pretty interesting guy," he buffed his nails against his chest, and received a shove from Ron. He threw himself dramatically on the bed, grabbing at his chest. "You wound me!"

"But what about school?" Ginny piped up. "I mean, isn't there a one-pet only rule?"

"Technically yes," Harry nodded. "But as Duchess explained to me earlier, they are my and Rose's familiar, and therefore not a pet, so I'm safe. All on a technicality."

"Brilliant," Ron looked at Duchess who was now investigating Hermione's shoes. "And she can talk to you?"

"In parsletongue, and telepathy of some sort. We have some sort of bond that allows us to communicate mentally," Harry paused. "I can't really explain it. You could probably ask Remus or one of your brothers, they might know more."

"What are you going to do when we go back to school though?" Ginny asked again. "Where will they stay? Where will you stay?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure. I'm guessing that Dumbledore'll give me my own room. Duchess can stay there."

"**Will not**!" Duchess protested glaring at him.

"Or not," Harry chuckled, and cocked his head to the side, listening to them for a moment. "She says that she'll be with me most of the time, at least at first."

"Most of the time?" Ginny raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Well she don't intend to follow me into the bathroom, or stick around if I have…guests…over," Harry coloured slightly at the last bit as his friends laughed. Harry propped himself up on his elbows and looked to Ginny. "Hey, what do you know about…Daphne Greengrass?"

"Sixth year Slytherin," Ginny thought for a moment. "She's quiet, a bit of a loner; she's really only friends with Malfoy and Tracy Davis, the other sixth year Slytherin girl. Maybe a few youngers. She's a good student, best of our year in most subjects, except for Defense. I don't know much else. Why?"

"She stopped me earlier in Diagon Alley. Apparently she's been given the option of moving up to seventh year, but in order to do so Dumbledore recommended that she join the DA to help her catch up, and possibly some tutoring."

"Oh well that's not a problem, is it?" Ginny looked at him. "I mean, she wasn't with Voldemort, even if she didn't side with us."

"She said she sided with herself, and her friends," Harry looked thoughtful. "You know, that's something we should work on back at school with the students."

"What?" Hermione looked at him too, always curious to hear more about possibilities for helping students. Especially since she was head girl.

"Defining everyone as either us or them," Harry flopped back onto his back. "We keep saying things like 'side with us' and all. Just because someone _didn't_ side with us, doesn't make them bad, or give us reason to shun them, so to speak. Some people just prefer to remain neutral. Some just don't want to risk their lives by openly joining us. I think we need to encourage friendships, especially in these times following the war when everything is just getting back to normal, you know?"

"You're starting to sound like a cross between Dumbledore and Hermione," Ron groaned. "Powerful and smart. I'm going to be going crazy this year between you and her."

"Honestly Ron," Hermione huffed and turned to Harry. "It's a wonderful idea Harry. I'll have to speak with Professor Dumbledore about arranging some activities that will help promote inter-house relations. I'm already getting a few ideas for things!"

"Great, as long it doesn't turn into spew again, fine by me," Ron stretched his arms over his head, but doubled over when Ginny poked him in the stomach.

"No fighting in my room," Harry laughed. "Actually, I'm going to kick you all out so I can take a nap before dinner."

"See you later…old man," Ron punched him on the arm before grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her out of the room, a giggling Ginny following.

* * *

"You just can't seem to keep from picking up strays, can you?" Remus teased Harry as he walked into the kitchen. Molly gasped loudly, barely restraining a scream of surprise and fright.

"Huh?" Harry looked confused till he looked behind him and saw Duchess. "Oh."

"Is that a boa constrictor?" Charlie looked excited. He was rather similar to Hagrid when it came to loving animals, though dragons were his favourites.

"Uh yeah, she's my familiar, or so she tells me," Harry shrugged and sat down, careful of bumping Rose.

"Her name's Duchess," Ginny added as the snake slithered around the table, getting everyone's scent.

"Well she's beautiful," Tonks complimented the snake as she stopped to smell her, her tongue flicking out several times before she was satisfied.

"Yes, I agree, but again, try not to pick up any more," Remus chuckled. "Or you'll not have room for them all at school."

"I make no promises, but I'll try not to. After all, Merlin knows who else will need my help!" Harry joked, and laughed along with everyone else.

* * *

A/N: Okay, that's it for six! Moving right along in the story. I hope the speed is okay with y'all. Part of me wants to just rush ahead to school while the other enjoys writing out parts like the gang hanging out and talking in Harry's room, and the little scene at the beginning between Harry and the Weasleys. Maybe that was a bit cliché, but I think it's fun, and that's something I can see Harry/Molly doing. Besides, this is FAN FIC, and more specifically, MY fanfic story :-D lol. So review if you want, it's fine if you don't, and the next chapter up in a few days to a week! 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey y'all! Thanks so much for the reviews, I appreciate them greatly, and love getting feedback! Now onto the chapter!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Seven

"HARRY!" Ron's voice echoed down the hall.

"What?" Harry winced, wondering what he wanted now. It was August thirty-first, and they were all packing for school. Ron of course, couldn't find anything, and was continually asking everyone for help.

"I can't find my broom!" He stopped in Harry's doorway, looking panicked. Harry on the other hand, was completely packed, and playing with Rose on the bed.

"Check behind your door," Harry sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes. "Or just _accio_ it."

"Thanks mate!" Ron called down a minute later.

"You know, as nice as it is to be part of the family now, I'm glad I haven't had to live with them full-time," Harry chuckled, waving a brightly coloured rattle made of crinkly material in front of Rose. She let out a happy gurgle, watching the toy. "It would be crazy with that many people all the time. Though I suppose that's what love's for; so you learn to tolerate craziness. You'll never have to lack for love though, I can promise you that. Or anything else for that matter. Your papa's well off."

At that moment, Hedwig flew screeching into the room, Duchess slithering fast right behind her.

"Stop it you two, or I petrify you both," he threatened, and they stopped immediately.

"**Sorry**," Duchess hissed immediately, though she continued to eye Hedwig, who was ruffling her feathers more than was necessary. Harry knew she was moving around even more on purpose.

"And Hedwig, stop teasing Duchess," he scolded. "If she manages to bite you it'll serve you right for taunting her in the first place."

"MUM, I CAN'T FIND MY PANTS!" Ron yelled as he thumped down the steps.

"On second thought Duchess, why don't you just go bite Ron?" Harry sighed and scooped Rose up on his chest as he laid down on the bed for a nap; Ron's yelling had given him a headache.

* * *

"Oh how cute," a giggling voice drifted into his subconscious, followed by a flash.

"Huh?" Harry slowly woke, his arms encircling Rose tighter to keep her from falling.

"You and Rose looked so peaceful, so I grabbed your camera and snapped a picture of you two," Tonks sat down on the edge of the bed, ruffling his hair. "You can add it to your ever growing album. You know, if you keep taking pictures every day, you're going to have a million albums of her first year alone."

"Oh well, there could be worse things," he chuckled sleepily as he sat up, putting his glasses on. "Everyone packed yet?"

"I think Ron's still trying to find some clothes, and Hermione's fretting over which books to bring with her on the train," Tonks laughed, a quirky sort of laugh that suited her personality, and made Harry laugh in turn. "Speaking of the train, I've been talking with Dumbledore."

"What'd he want?"

"We've decided we're going to have you portkey over at eight in the morning so you can get there early before anyone else, and you can grab a compartment for you and Rose. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny will be along whenever, and they've all got their patrolling to do and what not, so they'll be in the prefect or heads compartment anyways. Dumbledore figured that would give you more time alone with Rose with no one knowing just yet, for safety and all."

"Works for me," Harry shrugged as Tonks stood and headed for the door. "Thanks for telling me."

"Oh!" Tonks turned towards him just as she was about to walk out. "I almost forgot. You're going to be able to get off the train first and into a carriage which'll take you up to the school immediately so that Nearly-Headless Nick can show you to your room."

"Good, I had needed to talk to him about that," Harry nodded, sighing with relief. One more thing was taken care of. "Thanks Tonks."

"Anytime Harry!" Tonks gave him a salute and whirled about on her feet to face the door, tripping herself in the process. She grabbed on the doorframe to keep from falling, and grinned back at him. "I'm all right!"

Harry laughed. He liked Tonks, and thought she was good for Remus with her upbeat quirkiness. He hoped Remus would get up enough nerve to propose someday. Though of course, knowing Tonks, she might get tired of waiting and propose herself. Either way, he hoped they would. And kids too. He'd like Rose to have some playmates growing up. And some brothers and sisters too, someday. But of course, he'd have to get married first, and that likely wouldn't happen for several years yet.

* * *

"Have a good term Harry," Molly hugged him as he prepared to activate his portkey. "Do write in a few days and let us know how things are going."

"Of course Mum," he grinned as she kissed his cheek, then Rose's. "See you for Christmas!"

And with a last wave to Remus, Tonks, Molly, and Arthur, Harry activated the portkey, landing just outside the station in an alleyway behind a dumpster. He adjusted Rose in the sling; she was happily holding a small stuffed wolf from Remus, and sucking on a pacifier. Grabbing their trunks, he walked out of the alley and into the station. Hedwig had already flown ahead to the owlery, and Duchess had gone ahead and just flashed to his new room. How she knew where it was, he didn't know, but he was glad to not have to fiddle with invisibility charms for her.

"Bloody platform doesn't exist!" A harsh voice startled Harry out of his thinking, and he realised with some surprise that he was already at platforms nine and ten.

"I'm sorry sir," a very small looking girl looked around in fright, struggling with a small trunk. She met Harry's eyes for a brief moment before turning back to the thin man beside her.

"_I'm sorry sir_," he mimicked, and backhanded her across the face, much to Harry's shock and anger. "Bad enough I have to deal with your…oddity…but now I have to waste time bringing you to a place that doesn't exist."

"But that man Hagrid said it did," she whispered.

"Don't talk back to me!" He raised his hand again, and Harry quickly stepped over and grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him.

"You never hit a child, and you never hit a girl," he threw the man's hand down, looking at him in disgust. "Please, for the love of Merlin, tell me she is not your daughter."

"This disgusting wench?" He looked at Harry in disbelief. "No, thank the Lord! She's just a worthless brat at the orphanage I work at. And she's a freak, with all the oddities that happen around her."

"Magic you mean," Harry cast a notice-me-not charm on them. "And she's not a freak. She's a witch."

"Oh hell, you're one of her kind, aren't you?" The man sneered, and Harry was reminded very much of his Uncle.

"Yes, and I refuse to let you treat her that way. If she's an orphan, then she must be up for adoption."

"Yeah, you want her? Take her!"

"Listen to me," Harry knelt in front of the girl, ignoring the man next to him. "I know we don't know each other, but I won't hurt you intentionally, and I will never raise my hand against you. If you agree to my adopting you, you'll live with me and my daughter, and some of my friends and their family at times too. I can't promise we won't argue or never get mad at each other, but that's part of being family. But above all I can promise you that you'll be safe."

"Please," she nodded, stepping towards him, hugging him around the waist as he stood, burying her face against him. He could feel her tears wetting the fabric of his shirt.

"All right," Harry waved his wand and summoned the adoption papers to the man's astonishment. "Sign."

"Now? Gladly," he scribbled his name, filling out the appropriate places. "Sign here, here, and here."

"Done," Harry nodded decisively, and with a flick of his wand, it disappeared. "I've sent it to my bank for safe keeping. Now get out of my sight and be glad I didn't curse you for your treatment of her. You never treat a child like that, and I'm disgusted at the thought you work at an orphanage."

"Not much you can do about that," he sneered at Harry, and Harry felt his blood boil. He waved his wand, and a blue beam of light hit the man.

"What'd you do!?"

"Nothing, you're fine aren't you?"

"Yes…" the man said slowly, checking himself over.

"Well you'll stay that way…as long as you don't hurt anyone. Anytime you hit, strike, or beat a child, you will feel that pain…doubled. So I recommend keeping your hands to yourself," Harry smirked as the man paled, glared at him, and then stalked away. Harry looked at the girl holding on to him, still crying. "Come on. Let's get onto the platform."

She nodded, and Harry reached down and gently took her hand in his, looking her over. He was angry as how small and underweight she seemed to be. Using his free hand to grab his trunk, he walked through the barrier, onto platform nine and three quarters, and onto the train, taking a compartment at the end.

"I'm Harry Potter," he introduced himself, setting her down on the seat near the window. He turned back to the door, locking it and casting a charm so no one could see in, as well as a silencing charm.

"I've heard of you," she said softly, wiping her face with the sleeve of her slightly too-large jumper. "Hagrid talked about you, and how you're a hero."

"I guess I am, though not really by choice," Harry handed her a handkerchief as he stowed their trunks above them. "We're at a distinct disadvantage now. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

"Allyn Louise Williams," she answered. "My mum named me Allyn after her Grand-Da, except she changed the spelling. Louise was her name."

"Well I think it's a lovely name," he smiled at her, and was happy to see her give him one back, even if it was a nervous one.

"Is that your daughter?" She tilted her head towards Rose, who was still awake, and looking at Allyn.

"Yes, Rhosymedre Elizabeth Potter. And your new sister I suppose."

"Thank you," she looked down. "For adopting me. You didn't have to. Most people wouldn't, having just met someone, 'specially with not knowing anything about them."

"I know you're going to Hogwarts, and I know he was a cruel man," Harry reached a hand out to pat her hand, smiling sadly when she flinched slightly. "And I know you're in the same situation I was when I was a kid."

"Really?" She looked up, her eyes wide.

"Really," he nodded, and went on to tell her his story, not even noticing when the train began to move.

She grew more animated as he continued to tell her of his younger years, and the trouble he got into because of magic. He continued to make her laugh and lose some of her shyness as he told her of all his, Ron, and Hermione's adventures at Hogwarts. She begged him to tell her more about the school and teachers, and of course, the houses. Unsurprisingly, she hoped to be in Gryffindor with him, though Hufflepuff didn't sound bad to her either.

Harry watched her come out of her shell a bit with delight. He also found himself fighting a laugh when he imagined what Remus' reaction would be to his latest 'stray' he had picked up. He also found himself wondering what everyone else's reactions would be, not that he cared too much. He had impulsively done this, true, but he wasn't going to feel sorry for doing it. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if he had left her there. That man had been killing her in a sense, taking away her fiery nature and spirit.

Some time later, she and Rose were both sleeping soundly; the movement of the train, as well as the excitement of the day, had tired them both out. Harry took the time to study his newest 'daughter', though he didn't really consider her that. He knew she was technically, but really, being six years older than her and her 'father' seemed funny to him, though he did feel fatherly, what with taking care of Rose and all.

Not for the first time since he had signed those papers, he wondered if he was going crazy. He had no experience raising children except for the crash course from Lacey, and that hardly counted. For that matter, he had no experience with kids period. Sure he was around younger kids at school, but like at any school, the older kids tended to ignore the younger ones. And she was a girl! An almost teenage girl, which meant she would be dealing with…_feminine_ _problems_…in the next couple of years. Not to mention bra shopping! How was he supposed to deal with that?!

"Guess that's what Hermione and Ginny and Mrs. Weasley are for," he muttered to himself. "I don't even want to think about what happens when she starts getting interested in boys."

She was rather pretty, he thought, taking a moment to study her. She had dark auburn curls, with red highlights that glistened in the afternoon sun. Her eyes were the palest green he'd ever seen, though he'd noticed they changed colour a bit, depending on her mood; when she was happy they were light green, but when she was upset or angry, they flashed a much darker green. She had no freckles to speak of, and clear, pale skin. She was small for her age, and Harry had no doubt it was from the abuse she had suffered at the orphanage.

"Don't even go there Harry," he told himself, knowing it would only make him angry to think of it. Instead, hearing the speaker overheard announce they were fifteen minutes away, he quietly pulled his trunk down, and pulled out his school robe and tie, as well as a robe for Rose. He pulled his on, and then dressed Rose in hers; she slept the entire time he did.

"What should I call you?" Allyn's voice came from behind him, slightly groggy with sleep. "I mean, you're my Papa now aren't you? That's what getting adopted means."

"I guess technically I am," he nodded, pulling her trunk down. She grabbed a robe out of it, and he put it back up for her. "But I'm only six years older than you, maybe only closer to five, depending on your birthday."

"February twentieth."

"Yeah, closer to six then," Harry shrugged. "I guess it's up to you. If you want to call me Papa, then that's fine, or you can just call me Harry."

"I think I'll call you Papa," she blushed prettily. "I've always wanted one, cause mine died when I was a baby. Mum died when I was six."

"Papa it is then, though if you ever just want to use Harry, that's fine too. Now we're almost to the station," he told her. "You can get off with me; I have to get off early to be shown to my room, since I've got Rose, and my familiar living with me. You'll go down to where Hagrid will be waiting, along with the other first years, once everyone else is allowed to get off."

"Will I see you at dinner?"

"Yeah. You'll have to be sorted into a house first though, and I may not be there for that," he gave her an apologetic grin. "I suspect I'll be a few minutes late, and try to sneak in during announcements. So I'll see you during dinner. If you're in Gryffindor, we'll see each other after the feast. If you're in another house, you can come find me during dessert to let me know."

"I hope I'm not in another house, cause then I won't get to see you," she looked down.

"Sure you will. You'd see me at meals, and we'd have the weekends, and evenings to see each other too," he lifted her chin. "No worries. Everything's going to be fine, though I'm going to ask you to not tell anyone about our relationship just yet. If they find out, it's not a big deal, but I'd rather you have a chance to settle in and get used to things without dealing with being my kid."

"I understand," Allyn gave him a smile.

"All right, come along then," he undid all the charms, and walked out of the compartment, smiling when she slipped her hand is his much bigger one.

He sent her down the platform to where a smiling and waving Hagrid stood, and climbed into the first carriage which took off once he had sat down. He was amazed at how, like with Rose, he already felt so protective over Allyn, even after only a few hours. Hermione was right; he did have a 'saving-people thing'. And he wouldn't change that, even if he could.

"Hello Mister Potter!" Nicholas greeted him as he climbed out of the carriage.

"Hello Sir Nick," Harry nodded to the ghost.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you to your rooms," Nick floated into the castle, Harry following him.

"Uh, sorry, but did you say _rooms_?"

"Yes. You're being given the Head Boy suite in Gryffindor tower, as this year's head boy is a…Mr. Boot, I believe, of Ravenclaw. It consists of a small sitting room and study, and two bedrooms this year. The headmaster added on an extra room, which I'm assuming is for the child you carry in the sling."

"Yeah, my daughter, Rhosymedre," Harry nodded.

"Ah, a fine name for a fine lass," he stated as they reached the portrait. "Password is _honour_."

"Welcome back Mister Potter," the fat lady's eyes were wide as she saw the baby, and Harry saw her rush out of the portrait, no doubt to go talk to Violet.

"At the top of the stairs Mister Potter, is where your rooms lie," Nick gave a bow. "I must leave you now; the sorting will begin in a few minutes."

"Thanks!" Harry called as Nick floated down through the floor.

He turned and headed up the stairs to his new quarters, and pushed open the door. Walking in, he saw he was in the sitting room, which consisted of a small couch and two armchairs around a coffee table. The chairs were a deep red, and looked rather squishy and comfortable. At the right of the room was an alcove with a window, where a large desk sat next to a small bookcase built into the wall. To his left there was a door, and opening he found his bedroom, which looked much like his dormitory had in past years, except there was only one bed. To the right of his bed was another door, and this opened on the nursery, which was decorated in white, with red trim. What caught his attention, besides the fact her things were already there and set up, was a waist high sink that resembled a small bathtub.

"Dumbledore remembers everything," Harry grinned, seeing the bathing area for Rose. "This is nice. Though I think I'll leave the door open at night so I can hear you."

"**Oh lovely, you're here finally**," Duchess appeared behind him with a flash.

"Why, miss me? Now, just to let you know, I kind of adopted a girl. Her name's Allyn, and she's being sorted as we speak," Harry informed her. "So if you'll excuse me, I need to get down there."

"**Fine. Call me if you need me; I'll stay here tonight so all the little ones don't freak out**."

"Whatever happened to not leaving me alone?"

"**Please**," she scoffed, a funny hissing-type of sound. "**I need my personal time as much as you do. Besides, Hogwarts is safe enough, and will protect you. You'll be fine.**"

"And that's why I've had an attempt on my life every year I've been here," he chuckled, and then focused his attention on Rose.

Harry changed Rose's diaper quickly, and settled her back in the sling, sticking a bottle in his pocket for when she woke up. That done, Harry left his quarters and quickly made his way to the great hall. He poked his head around the edge of the doorway just in time to hear Williams, Allyn be sorted into Gryffindor. Seeing everyone's attention focused on the last boy being sorted, Harry made his way up the aisle to where he saw Ron's red hair, and quickly slid in beside Hermione.

"There you are, where were you?" Hermione whispered.

"Sir Nick was showing me my rooms," he whispered back. "I'll be living in the Head boy quarters in Gryffindor tower. Dumbledore added a nursery on for me."

"That's nice of him," she smiled, laughing at Ron as he dug into the food which had just appeared on the tables.

"Hiya Harry," Ron greeted through a bite of turkey.

"Finish chewing Ron," Hermione wrinkled her nose at her boyfriend's table manners.

"Hey Harry," Neville greeted from a few seats up. "Where were you?"

"Yeah, we didn't see you on the train," Seamus added.

"I was in a compartment at the end," he shrugged, eating a bite of stuffing. Just as he moved his fork for another bite, Rose woke up with a loud cry, drawing the attention of everyone in the nearby vicinity.

"Hey, was that a baby crying?" Lavender perked up, looking around for the source of the noise.

"Yeah, sorry, she's hungry," Harry stated nonchalantly, pulling out the bottle and casting a mild heating charm on it before setting it on the table in front of him. Harry decided it was easiest to just be blunt about everything and blasé, and hopefully people would get over their shock quicker.

"She?" Parvati also perked up, and looked towards him, as did Neville, Seamus, Dean, and several others.

"Rhosymedre Elizabeth," he nodded, lifting her out of the sling to better hold her while feeding her.

"Oh she's so cute!" The two exclaimed, rushing over to Harry to get a better look at her.

"Thank you," he nodded, giving Rose the bottle.

"Who is she?" Dean asked, and Harry knew he was really asking 'what is a baby doing here' instead.

"My daughter," Harry replied mildly, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

"DAUGHTER!" They all exclaimed, and of course, the word began to spread down the table, and over to the others, that Harry Potter had a daughter. Everyone was soon standing up and trying to get a look at Harry and Rose, and some were even walking over. Deciding it would be best to just show everyone, he got out of his seat and walked up to the dais.

"Professor Dumbledore, might I interrupt dinner for a few minutes to introduce Rose?" Harry asked. "I don't think I'll get a chance to eat otherwise."

"Of course my boy," he nodded, eyes twinkling.

"All right, listen up," Harry _sonorused_ his voice before speaking. "This is Rhosymedre Elizabeth Potter, Rose for short. And YES, she is my daughter, you didn't mishear things for once. Now that you've seen her, please let us eat in peace. There'll be plenty of other times during the year to see her. Thanks."

"That was smart Harry," Hermione nodded approvingly as he sat back down with a sigh. "Though I still don't think you'll get much peace."

"Yeah well, it'll help," he glared mildly at his year mates. "I know you're full of questions. Hermione and Ron were when they found out. But do you mind waiting till we get back to the common room?"

"Sorry Harry," Neville spoke for everyone. "We'll wait."

"Thanks," Harry gave him a grateful smile, then asked no one in particular, "So how'd your summer go?"

This set off a flurry of conversation, as everyone began sharing what happened over their break. There was still lots of gossiping and speculation, and even more staring from the other tables, but Harry knew, just like everything else, that would fade in time. Dinner finally wound down, and after Dumbledore made his announcements, the fifth year prefects stood to lead the first years to the common room.

"What is this world coming to?" Draco's drawling voice stopped Harry at the end of the table. "Potter's got a child."

"Don't insult my daughter Malfoy," Harry's voice was like ice. Draco may have been on the light side, but that didn't mean he wasn't still a bastard most of the time.

"What are you gonna do, throw a rattle at me?" Draco smirked, and Harry glared, though he didn't do anything.

"Say what you like, but I'm not going to fight you, not when she could get hurt," Harry glanced down at Rose, who was awake in the sling. She was quiet though, as if sensing her papa was tense.

"Scared Potter?" Draco sneered, and Harry got a vague sense of déjà vu, remembering second year.

"Only that she'll get hurt," he repeated firmly, staring him down, and finally Draco shook his head.

"Whatever Potter," he turned around and stalked off towards the dungeons. Daphne gave him a slight nod as she passed, which he returned as he and his year mates headed for Gryffindor tower.

"Honour," Hermione stated for everyone to hear, and the portrait swung open.

Once in the common room, after the prefects had finished explaining things to the first years, Harry walked over to the corner his friends had staked out. He sat down on the love seat, and looked expectantly at his friends.

"Now, what do you want to know?" Harry asked after casting a silencing charm around their group.

"Where's Rose's mother?" Seamus asked. "For that matter, who's Rose's mother?"

"She was a squib, and she's dead," Harry ducked his head a bit, hoping they wouldn't ask any more about that if he appeared to be upset. He was right, and Dean quickly asked the next question.

"How old is she?"

"Two months today," Harry grinned down at her. "Aren't you sweetheart?"

"May I hold her?" Parvati asked. "If you don't mind?"

"Sure," he agreed, and lifted Rose out of the sling and put her in Parvati's arms. He didn't mind his friends here holding her, but he knew he wouldn't let many others do the same. He just didn't like passing her around for others to gawk at. He preferred to keep her close so he knew she was safe.

"What are you doing for classes? About Rose I mean?"

"She'll come to some of my classes," Harry looked at Neville as he answered his question. "Transfiguration, and Charms I think. Those are two classes she should be fine in, though I'll set up strong shields around her anyways. As for the others, I'm going to see if I can leave her with Poppy, or have Duchess keep an eye on her."

"Duchess?" Lavender's forehead wrinkled in confusion at the name. "I don't know anyone by that name."

"She's my familiar." Harry called out to her via their mind link, and she flashed into the middle of the group, bringing startled exclamations.

"I get the stray comment Ron made earlier," Seamus laughed as the snake nodded a greeting to the group, and then flashed back to Harry's room. "Where is she going to stay? I mean, there's not enough room in the dormitory for her really."

"I've got the head boy quarters here," he waved a hand towards the stairs. "There's a sitting room with a study area, then my room, and a nursery for Rose. Dumbledore set everything up. So don't worry, you won't be woken up at two in the morning by her fussing."

"No, but we still have to deal with Ron's snoring," Dean grinned, and everyone laughed as Ron gave a mock-indignant huff.

"Poor you," Harry chuckled, but stopped when two of the first years approached the edge of their group.

"Can we help you?" Hermione asked them kindly, being head girl.

"Allyn and Marie fell asleep in the chairs, and we can't wake them up to get them up to bed," one of them, a chubby blonde, spoke.

"Well I'll help you," Harry offered, standing up.

"But boys can't go up the girl's stairs," Hermione was quick to remind him as he walked over to where the two girls were sound asleep in chairs.

"I think I can get by that," was all he said, and after scooping up Marie, he walked to the stairs hoping his plan would work.

He reached the bottom of the steps and sent out a mental plea to the castle asking for admittance to the girl's tower to put Marie, and then Allyn to bed. He knew some would call him crazy for trying to 'talk' to the castle, but he knew it had to be 'alive' in a sense. He had given this issue a good deal of though over the past several months. After all, how else would staircases move, and doors act like walls, and the room of requirement exist? Or how would the Headmaster know what was going on everywhere, and be able to turn up at choice, opportune moments? And Duchess' comment about Hogwarts protecting him was also a giveaway. Feeling something like a sigh of consent tickle his mind, he put his foot on the step, and slowly made his way up to the first landing, the two girls ahead of him to open the door..

"Thanks," he gave them smiles as they held the door for him.

"That's her bed," the chubby blonde who had spoken downstairs pointed to the bed across from the door. There were five beds total in the room.

"Let me help," one of the others, a tall black girl offered, and hopped off her bed to pull down the covers for Harry.

"What're your names?" He asked, setting Marie down on the bed. He pulled off her shoes, and pulled the covers up over her.

"I'm Shonda," the black girl introduced herself.

"Jennifer," the chubby blonde smiled tiredly at him, stifling a yawn.

"Ariella," the third girl, a brunette, said with a nod.

"I'll be back in a second," he let them know, and climbed downstairs, ignoring the surprised looks he was getting as he scooped up Allyn and took her upstairs, putting her in the other empty bed that had the covers pulled down. Again he took off her shoes, and pulled the covers up over her. "Good night."

"Night, and thanks," Shonda smiled at him, a bit star-struck.

"How did you do that!?" Ron stared at Harry in amazement as he sat back down with them. "I mean, I know you could use a broom or something, or maybe a levitation charm, but you obviously didn't use your broom, and your wand's been here on the table this whole time."

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," Harry laughed.

"Oh c'mon Harry, no keeping all the good secrets to yourself," Seamus cajoled.

"You'll figure it out someday," Harry shook his head as he took Rose back from Lavender who'd been holding her. "But not from me."

"Oh why not?"

"Cause I promised the lovely lady who told me that I wouldn't," Harry fibbed slightly, smiling when he felt a pleased murmur from the castle. "Now if that's everything, I need to get _this_ girl to bed, as well as myself. I'll see you guys in the morning."

"Harry, you're not really going to leave without telling us, are you?" Ron called as he started to head for the stairs. "Harry? HARRY?!" Harry's only reply was to laugh and twiddle his fingers at an annoyed Ron as he disappeared from sight up the stairs.

* * *

A/N: All right everyone, that's it for this chapter. I know, I know, more OC. But it's my story, so there. I do what I want :-D So review and let me know what you thought, if you're so inclined. 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews; I know, I always say that, but I always mean it every time, so keep 'em coming :-D Oh, and for those who asked, yes, the curse Harry cast on the evil orphanage man was inspired by Tamora Pierce's "Protector of the Small" series. Now, enjoy this chapter!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Eight

"You just _love_ attention, don't you Potter?"

"And good morning to you too Greengrass," he raised an eyebrow in question as she sat herself down beside him. "And no, I don't, but I seem to get it anyways, don't I?"

"That you do," she nodded, grabbing a piece of toast off a plate and helping herself to some jelly.

"So what brings you over here? Aren't you afraid that your friends will come down and see?" It was just after six, and after Rose had woken him up for a feeding, Harry had just decided to stay up and go down to breakfast before everyone usually started trickling in so he wouldn't have to deal with being stared at.

"Please, I don't have any but for Draco and Tracy, and they know I can take care of myself," she shrugged. "Especially when it comes to Gryffindors."

"Very funny," Harry said dryly, looking down as Rose squirmed.

"Would you like me to hold her?" Daphne asked suddenly.

"If you like," Harry nodded after a few moments. He didn't think she'd do anything, not when she needed to stay on his good side to get help with DADA, and join the DA club. He scooped Rose up and handed her over to Daphne, who settled her in her arms. "Thanks. It's nice sometimes to not have the weight for a while."

"Well you could just get a stroller or carrier instead of using that," she gestured to the sling.

"Yeah, but I like to have her close by."

"Overprotective much? Just as long as you get over that phase as she grows up."

"Why? Is it really so bad to be overprotective of my daughter?"

"Oh please Potter, stop with the defensiveness. I'm not about to try and hex you with an infant in my arms," she rolled her eyes with a huff. "As I was _about_ to say, no, being overprotective isn't a bad thing necessarily, as long as you don't become a domineering control freak when it comes to her. If you try to keep her on a short leash as she grows older, she'll resent that, and you. Draco's tried to do the same thing with Tracy and me sometimes, cause we're all the family each other has now. And _yes_, Draco can be nice and sweet and kind, hard as that may be for you to believe."

"Hey, I wasn't going to say anything," Harry held up his hands with a grin.

"Sure you weren't. But he can be kind, he just usually hasn't in front of anyone else cause his father expected him to act a certain way. And now, though he can act differently, he's been playing the bastard for so long it's hard for him to change."

"I get what you're saying, and I'll work on not being so overprotective by the time she gets older," Harry reached a hand out and smoothed Rose's hair down. "I've got Allyn to learn with after all."

"Allyn?" Daphne raised an eyebrow in question, and Harry cursed himself for letting that slip.

"Allyn Williams, a first year Gryffindor. I kind of adopted her yesterday," Harry started to explain, but a flash cut him off.

"**Where have you been, and why didn't you wake me?**" Duchess hissed furiously at him from the floor next to him where she had appeared. "**Just because I'm not going to follow you everywhere doesn't mean I don't want to be told where you're going!**"

"Someone doesn't sound happy," Daphne laughed at what was obviously a scolding.

"Yeah, she's my familiar, and a bit angry that I didn't wake her to tell her I was coming here," Harry rolled his eyes. "Her name's Duchess, if you were wondering."

"Pleasure to meet you Duchess," Daphne reached a finger out and rubbed lightly up and down between her eyes.

"**I'm sorry, I'll try to remember. But hey, you managed to find me just fine**," Harry apologised as Duchess curled up on the bench and around his waist, her head resting on his shoulder.

"You know, knowing you speak to snakes, and actually hearing you speak to snakes are two incredibly different things," Daphne looked intrigued.

"Yeah. I really try not to do it since most people freak out at the hissing."

"Well don't worry about bothering me, I find it rather interesting," she shrugged, then glanced towards the door and groaned softly. "Lovely, Draco's just seen us."

"You're going to get me in trouble, aren't you?" Harry sighed as Draco came storming over. "Just like all the women in my life."

"I resent that," she rolled her eyes, and then turned to face Draco. "Hello Draco."

"Hello Draco? Is that all you can say when I find you talking to _him_, and holding his kid?" Draco stood there, hands on his hips, glaring at her. Harry had to fight back a laugh as he was vaguely reminded of Mrs. Weasley on one of her tirades.

"Well I suppose I could also tell you that the cut of your robe looks atrocious on you," she replied mildly as she stood and swiftly transferred Rose to his arms. "And now I'm talking to you, and _you're_ the one holding his kid."

"Daphne, I don't need to hold her," Draco nearly whined, but he adjusted his hold on the infant till she was in a more comfortable and secure position. Harry was standing now, torn between snatching Rose away from Malfoy, and yelling at Daphne for giving her to him to begin with. Duchess had slithered off of him as Draco approached, and gone to the other side of the table.

"Papa!" Allyn ran in at that moment, though she slowed when she got to them, seeing the other two. Her face immediately took on a nervous look, as she looked down, not meeting his eyes. "Oh I'm sorry, I wasn't supposed to let anyone know."

"Don't worry, it's okay." He reached out to pat her shoulder, smiling sadly when she flinched yet again. Harry focused his attention on her, though he continued to watch Malfoy carefully. He was surprised to see that Malfoy was actually smiling slightly at his daughter Rose, though he was throwing curious glances at Allyn. Harry was reminded that no one knew about her.

"Who're you?" She looked at Malfoy just as curiously as he was looking at her.

"Malfoy, this is Allyn Williams, my adopted daughter. Try to keep that quiet, will you?" Harry introduced with a sigh, ignoring Draco's look of surprise. "Allyn, this is Draco Malfoy, and Daphne Greengrass, both seventh years like me."

"Are you friends with my Papa?" She asked them.

"Yes," Daphne answered with a smirk at the look of surprise on both Draco and Harry's faces.

"Hey, don't look at me, she just told me," Harry snapped defensively as Malfoy glared at him. "This is only the second time we've spoken."

"What I'm wondering is why you spoke to her in the first place," Malfoy sneered, bouncing Rose up and down as she began fussing. "You got a bottle for this kid or something?"

"You honestly expect me to believe that you want to feed her?" Harry stared at him in disbelief.

"Remember what I said earlier Potter," Daphne pulled his head down so she could whisper in his ear. "He loves kids, though I doubt he'd ever admit it outright. I wouldn't have given Rose to him if I didn't trust him."

"Maybe you trust him, but how do I know I can trust you?"

"Guess you don't, but you're just going to have to," she smiled. "Besides, if we're ever going to date and have a successful relationship, you have to learn to get along with him."

"And who says I'm going to date you?"

"You will," she laughed, and ducked under the table to sit next to Allyn. She motioned for Draco to sit down, which he finally did after some hesitation. Harry slowly pulled out a bottle and handed it to him so he could feed Rose. Harry sat down next to him, leaving a bit of space, though he didn't take his eyes off of him holding his daughter.

"You do realise if anyone else comes in, your bastard image will be shot to hell?" Harry looked at the boy who had always been an enemy to him.

"Just because I'm holding your kid doesn't mean I'm not a bastard," he sneered. "And watch your language, you've got your two kids here."

"I'm eleven," Allyn said with all the dignity of a queen. "I've heard language like that, as well as worse, before. And besides, if anyone should be watching what they say, it's you. You talk mean, and I don't think Rose likes that. I don't like it either."

"Well my apologies then," Draco apologised with only a touch of sarcasm after Daphne sent him a look…and a swift kick to the shin.

"Yes Malfoy, I don't like when you talk unkindly," Harry smirked.

"You should be nice too Papa," Allyn reprimanded. "Call him Draco."

"Yes _Harry_." It was Draco's turn to smirk. "Do call me by my name. You'll hurt my feelings if you don't."

"Well I'll be sure not to make that mistake in the future _Draco_," Harry managed to reply evenly and without sneering.

"Oh this is just lovely, isn't it?" Daphne smiled brightly at the two of them, giggling a bit. "Two of my friends getting along ever so nicely."

"Stuff it Daphne," Harry and Draco snapped at the same time, and then immediately looked at each other in horror that they had said the same thing.

"Well that's not very nice," she teased, glancing at Allyn who was eating breakfast, and petting Duchess. "Draco dear, I think it's time we go to our table, as others should be coming in soon. I doubt you want others to see you being friendly with the boy-wonder now, do you?"

"Not particularly," he drawled, and carefully handed Rose back to Harry. "She's not so bad _Harry_."

"Thanks Draco," Harry rolled his eyes at Malfoy's emphasis on his name. "And just Harry is fine, no emphasis needed. Rose and Allyn seem to like you, and Daphne trusts you, so I'll call a truce with you, around them anyways."

"Truce," Draco nodded after a moment, and shook Harry's hand. "Come on Daphne."

"See you around Potter," Daphne gave him a wink.

"Shouldn't you be calling me Harry if we're friends?" He called after her softly so only she could her, but only got a laugh in reply.

"I like her," Allyn said around a mouthful of sausage. "She's nice. And Draco was funny, I like him too."

"Really?" Harry looked at her in amusement. "I think that's funny since he and I have never really gotten along before."

"Well maybe that's cause you never really tried to get to know him," Allyn said wisely. "You never know if someone's gonna be a friend till you try talking to them. And if you're gonna be friends with Daphne, and she's friends with Draco, then it'd be good for you to be friends with Draco too, wouldn't it?"

"Probably," he conceded, hating that one of the best lessons in logic and relationships had been given to him by an eleven year old. "Now, I see my friends coming, so you probably shouldn't talk about him too much, cause they don't like him very much either."

"All right Papa," she shrugged, and went back to eating breakfast as Duchess slid under the table and up to curl back around Harry, her head resting on his shoulder once more.

"Morning Harry," Hermione greeted him, sitting down next to him, glancing curiously at Allyn. A very sleepy Ron sat next to Harry, not even noticing Duchess till her tongue hit his cheek, causing him to yelp. Others started filing in slowly, sitting down and eating. Once more, Harry could feel other's eyes on him, though again, he chose to ignore them.

"**Would you like me to bite them?**" Duchess asked, glaring around the room.

"**No, that's all right,**" Harry hissed back, chuckling at how defensive she was of him. He noticed those who had been watching turned away quickly, not comfortable hearing the hissing of parseltongue.

"Uh Harry, would you mind not speaking with Duchess?" Lavender looked at him and Duchess apologetically. "It's making some of the youngers nervous."

"Speaking of youngers, who's the shrimp?" Seamus nodded to Allyn.

"Allyn Williams, and I'm not a shrimp," she rolled her eyes.

"Well what are you doing sitting here? Why not go sit with your friends?"

"I'm eating breakfast here because no one else was down. And I like…Harry's…snake," she caught herself in time. "As for sitting with my friends, they weren't awake when I left the dorm. It's still pretty early after all."

"Well what are you doing up then?" Seamus continued to pester her with questions.

"I'm used to getting up early," she shrugged, closing off a bit. "The other girls in the dorm at the orphanage would take forever in the bathroom."

"Well that's smart," Seamus nodded a bit, then turned to Dean when he tapped him on the shoulder to ask something.

"You okay?" Harry whispered when he was sure no one was really paying attention. He knew she wasn't telling the whole truth about the dorm situation; he knew what a well-perfected lie looked like.

"The girls would steal and ruin my things if they woke up before me," she whispered back, not meeting his eyes. "I got up early out of necessity."

"Ready for classes Harry?" Hermione interrupted his side conversation with Allyn, giving the two of them a curious look. Harry felt like he'd been getting a lot of those recently.

"I guess we'll see," he gave her a lopsided grin. "What's up first?"

"Double Potions, then lunch, then Double Transfiguration, and Charms as the last," Hermione rattled off.

"Guess I better get a move on up to the infirmary," Harry stood. "**Come on Duchess**."

"Is it all right if I walk back with you?" Allyn asked, aware of Harry's friends around. "I don't think I've quite memorised the way yet."

"Sure," Harry smiled, then started for the doors, laughing as he heard Ron complaining about how they always had potions first thing.

"I like your friends, and Duchess especially."

"Well she likes you too," Harry grinned down at her. "And my friends will like you as they get to know you."

"Are you sure they're not going to think I'm a freak?"

"Course not, everyone here's a freak," he tried to joke with her, reaching out to tug a curl playfully, once again very aware of her flinching from his hand. "Hey, hold on a minute."

"What?" She stopped in front of him, and he crouched down to her level. She didn't meet his eyes, instead staring at her hands, which she was wringing nervously in front of her.

"Look at me, please?" He kept his tone soft and calm, and she slowly raised her eyes to meet his gaze. "Now I'm not very good with stuff like this, but let me give it a shot. Uh…I know we talked on the train about how I grew up, in a situation a lot like yours, right? How my uncle abused me, emotionally and verbally and all? So you've got to realise that if they accepted me, they'll accept you too. They already have. What you've got to remember is that here, turning your teacher's hair blue, or causing the dinner plates to shatter when you're angry is something normal. I know it's a shock, and feels too good to be true, but it's not. It's not a dream you're going to wake up from, okay?"

"I know," she nodded her head, looking much younger than her eleven years as she stood in front of him.

"Something else I think we need to talk about is one of the other promises I made to you yesterday," Harry continued, still looking her in the eye. "I promised you yesterday that I would never hit you."

"I know that too, I swear I do! I believed you when you promised me, but I can't seem to stop the flinching whenever I see a hand coming towards me, even if I know it's just for something friendly, like a pat on the shoulder. If I see it coming, and it's not to close, like someone giving me a high five, or wanting a handshake, then that's okay," she told him, not meeting his eyes once more. "And I get startled easily too sometimes, if someone just comes up behind me and taps me on the shoulder. I try not to, I really do! I don't do it on purpose!"

"Hey, I know that," he calmed her. "And I know it'll get better. We just have to work on getting you used to the fact that being touched no longer equals being hurt."

"Thank you Papa."

"Anytime Lyn."

"Lyn?"

"Yeah, I think it's a nice nickname, if you don't mind. And a bit more feminine for such a pretty girl," he gave her a smile.

"No, I like it," she smiled shyly back at him.

"Good. Come on then, walk with me to Gryffindor tower," Harry stood up and held out his hand, even though he felt a little awkward doing so; he wasn't one who'd ever really held hands. "I've got to grab my school bag and Rose's diaper bag as well."

"Okay," she nodded, and hesitantly slipped her hand into hers as they started walking, making Harry feel much more comfortable with the gesture.

"So are you nervous about classes?"

"Not really. I mean, I think Transfiguration sounds like it'll be the hardest, but Professor McGonagall is fair, so that's okay. Potions sounds like it'll be the worst, if all the rumors the older kids have been telling us are true. Is Professor Snape really that mean?"

"It's not so much that he's mean inasmuch as he's overly strict," Harry chuckled. "He got better after the war, but he's still a tough teacher. He expects a lot from his students, and he has very high standards as well, but he's not really mean. You also have to understand he's had a rough life, and he's always had to act a certain way."

"Any advice for dealing with him?"

"Honour," Harry gave the password before continuing. "Just don't speak out of turn, keep your tone respectful, and follow the rules in his class. Oh, and he loves to take points from Gryffindor, so don't complain about that, or he'll just take away _more_ points."

"Got it," she nodded.

"I'll see you at lunch, have a good day Lyn," he gave her hand a squeeze, and watched as she bounded up the steps to her dorm, before he did the same. "All right Rhosymedre, let's get you squared away."

"Harry Potter sir!"

"Bloody hell!" Harry whipped around, startled, and saw Dobby standing on his bed, next to a pile of dirty pink rags. At least, that's what Harry thought it was till it moved. "What is that?"

"That is being Winky," Dobby said sadly, nudging her with his foot till she rolled over and Harry could see that she was extremely inebriated, and desperately clutching a bottle of butterbeer in her arms.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She is very much still upset about losing her _Barty_," Dobby whispered the name, but Winky still heard and let out a dreadful cry, clutching the bottle tighter and taking a long swig.

"Oh, I see."

"I is hearing you need help with baby Potter?"

"Well yeah, I suppose, but I was just going to take her to Madam Pomphrey."

"You could be binding Winky instead!" Dobby clapped his hands, bouncing on the bed excitedly. Harry looked at the inebriated elf doubtfully.

"Dobby, look at her, she's in no condition to be taking care of an adult, let alone a baby!"

"No! Once you bind her to your family, she is having to do as you say!" Dobby protested, shaking his head so hard he knocked himself down. "She will be having to stop drinking butterbeer, and keep clean, and all other manner of things you need her to be doing!"

"More strays," Harry mumbled to himself, walking closer to the bed. "Winky…do you want to bind yourself in service to the Potter family?"

"You is willing to take a shameful house elf?" She sniffed, finally showing some signs of life. The thought of servitude seemed to act like a sobering potion on her.

"Yes," Harry said shortly, figuring it was better to do that than try and protest the shameful part. "Now what do you say? You'll have to stop drinking butterbeer, and keep clean, and your primary task will be watching Rose when I need you to, though there'll be other things for you to do on occasion as well."

"I is willing to bind to you, Harry Potter sir, in service," Winky said solemnly, and there was a flash of light.

When Harry's eyes cleared, he saw Winky standing next to Dobby, looking much more alive and cleaner than before. She was now wearing a burgundy pillowcase fashioned like a toga, with the Potter crest on the front. Harry knew Hermione wouldn't be happy about that once she found out, but Harry really didn't want to try and force her to wear clothes, not when he feared she'd just get them as dirty as that pink dress she'd been wearing.

"Mister Potter is going to be late to class," she chided him, gently tugging Rose out of his arms.

"Bloody hell," Harry cursed upon looking at the clock. The whole situation with Lyn, and then with Winky, had taken up more time then he'd realised. He now had just under ten minutes to get his things together and get down to the dungeons.

"I is bringing young miss to Professor McGonagall's class later," Winky told him, and snapped her fingers, bringing Harry's school bag to him, packed with all he needed.

"Thanks," he gave her a grateful smile, and she snapped her fingers again. The next thing he knew he was in a little alcove just down the hall from the potions classroom.

"_I love house elves_," he thought as he rushed into class, only seconds before the bell rang.

"Where were you?" Hermione hissed at him as he slid into a seat next to her.

"Picking up strays," he answered with a grin, fighting a laugh when she gave him a questioning look. A ruler slammed on the desk in front of him.

"Something funny Mister Potter?" Professor Snape stood there with one eyebrow raised.

"Uh no…no sir," Harry quickly schooled his features into a respectful and serious look.

"See that it stays that way," he nodded, and whirled around and walked to the front of the class. "Your potion is on the board, begin."

"Now just what did you mean by picking up strays?" Hermione whispered several minutes later, barely moving her lips.

"Nothing really," Harry teased, adding in some eye of newt to his potion.

"Hardly nothing," she shot back. "I know you fairly well Harry Potter, and I want to know what you're hiding from me."

"I took on a house elf into service for the Potter family," he finally whispered back.

"WHAT?!" Hermione's yell was thankfully hidden by Neville's potion exploding; he'd accidentally dumped in too many eyes of newt. With Snape's attention focused on that, Hermione was able to speak freely to Harry. "You've done what?"

"You heard me," Harry rolled his eyes at her. "I'm taken a house elf into service."

"But why, and who? Not Dobby is it?"

"No actually, he's quite happy here. I've taken Winky into service, and it was a good thing I did. She was nearly comatose from her consumption of extreme amounts of butterbeer. Hermione, Winky was a mess, she was unhappy, and she felt she had no purpose in life after she was discharged from Crouch's family. I did her a favour by taking her into service."

"Maybe," Hermione replied a few moments later as they gathered their things together; Snape had dismissed class in order to clean things up. "What will she do for you?"

"The main thing she'll be doing is looking after Rose for me. And helping me out with other things as they come along I guess. Not sure really," Harry shrugged as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "All I know is that it's already helping her. She no longer looks like a mess since she has to wear a clean pillowcase as a uniform. And I've forbidden butterbeer, so she's not drunk anymore. And with Rose to look after, and being a 'respectable house elf' again, she shouldn't feel the need to drink either."

"I suppose you're right," Hermione nodded slowly, a smile spreading on her face. "It really is better for her to be in service than out of service…though I still don't agree with house-elf enslavement."

"Well as much as we don't agree with it, _they_ do, and it makes them happy," Harry pointed out, and continued when she opened her mouth. "Dobby's a bit of an oddball, you know that."

"Fine, we'll just agree to disagree."

"Agreed," Harry chuckled, sliding into his seat as Hermione sat at the table next to his. Winky appeared a moment later, Rose in her arms, and her diaper bag on the ground beside her. Harry almost laughed as she glared at Hermione.

"Here is young Miss Potter," Winky handed Rose over, and pushed the diaper bag over next to his seat with her foot. "Her diaper is changed, but she is needing a bottle soon."

"Thanks Winky, I'll call you if I need you," Harry smiled kindly, and she disappeared with a pop. Duchess appeared a moment later, hissing to him that she wanted to sit in on the lesson.

"Why was she glaring at me?" Hermione demanded to know as the bell rang, signaling the change of classes. They were the only ones in the class, as the Slytherins wouldn't be caught dead there earlier than necessary. As for the Gryffindors, they had been splashed with Neville's potion, which caused some minor skin burns, and had to go to the infirmary for a salve. Hermione and Harry had escaped unscathed due to his quick thinking; he'd thrown up a shield around them both.

"You remember the talk we had a minute ago about how the house elves like being enslaved and working and all?"

"Yes, but what's that have to do with this?"

"Well, she and all the other house elves remember that time when you kept knitting all those hats and things, trying to free them. They grew to be rather scared of you trying to trick them and all. It got so bad that for a while, Dobby was doing _all _of the cleaning in Gryffindor tower. To this day he still has all those hats somewhere. But anyways, I don't think Winky and the others have quite forgiven you."

"Good morning Miss Granger, Mister Potter- GOOD HEAVENS!" Professor McGonagall greeted them as she walked in, and suddenly gasped. "Is that a snake?!"

"Yes, my familiar Duchess," Harry fought a grin; the look on McGonagall's face had been hilarious.

"Would you kindly ask her to leave," Professor McGonagall sat down hard in her chair. "I'm afraid I'm not very fond of snakes, especially large ones."

"Sure," Harry nodded, and repeated Professor McGonagall's request to Duchess, who gave an resigned hiss before disappearing with a flash just as other students began filing in.

"Hello Love," Ron kissed Hermione's cheek as he slid in next to her.

"Are they always so incredibly affectionate with one another?" Daphne's voice came from beside him, and he turned to see her sitting next to him.

"Is being sneaky a Slytherin quality, because I didn't even notice you sit down." Harry was ignoring the odd, curious, glances he was getting from everyone, including Hermione and Ron.

"No, but it definitely helps," she smirked, taking a gurgling and cooing Rose from him. "And how's the Gryffindor Princess doing?"

"Just fine, as you can see."

"What'd you do with her in Potions? I didn't see her in the room anywhere."

"You are going to be the death of me Daphne," Draco grumbled as he roughly threw his things on the desk next to Daphne and Harry's, glaring at everyone who dared to look at him as he threw himself, slouching, into the chair. "Sitting this close to Gryffindors will absolutely stink up my robes."

"You don't have to sit here."

"Well thank you Captain Obvious," Draco sneered at Harry. "Please, as if I'm going to leave Daphne to your tender mercies. Someone's likely to hex her."

"They're Gryffindors Draco," Daphne gave him a placating smile. "They'll give me plenty of warning if they're going to hex me, never mind the fact that I'm holding the princess. That makes them even less likely to do something at the risk of angering their boy-wonder here."

"Fine, but I'm still sitting here," he replied crossly, slouching down in his chair.

"Lovely," she leaned over and kissed his cheek, then turned back to Harry. "Back to my earlier question before we were interrupted."

"Uh…I had my house elf, Winky, watch over her for me."

"Winky you said?" Draco sat up suddenly and leaned towards them, looking excited. "Wasn't that the Crouch family house elf?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded slowly, wondering why Draco cared.

"Do you know how lucky you are?!" Draco stared at him incredulously. "The Crouch's were incredibly skilled at the dark arts. Their elf must know all their spells and curses, some of which they created and didn't share with _anyone_! As her new master, you could command her to tell you everything she knows!"

"Draco darling, have you forgotten who you're talking to?"

"No Daphne, I know perfectly well that I'm talking to Potter," he rolled his eyes.

"Well then you know he's on the _light_ side," she smiled sweetly, before smacking him upside the head, careful not to jostle Rose. "So I doubt he'd care about dark spells."

"You two are just like Ron and Hermione when they get bickering," Harry commented lightly, and started sniggering when Draco looked affronted.

"Never again compare me to that weasel," he looked almost sick at the idea of being similar to Ron.

"All right, who else is as weirded out by those three as I am?" Seamus' loud whisper was heard by all, and Harry turned around to see all of his friends behind him, as well as the others around the room, raising their hands. Professor McGonagall was even watching them curiously, waiting for the bell to ring.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Ron finally asked, though it appeared everyone was thinking along similar lines.

"Having a conversation of sorts with them, what's it look like?"

"But they're Slytherins!"

"Does that even really matter?" Harry rolled his eyes, really getting sick of all the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalries. House wasn't important; the war proved that much with people from _all_ houses fighting together as one against the Death eaters.

"Of course it does!"

"Why? We all have qualities from the other houses. I mean, Hermione should, stereotypically, be in Ravenclaw. And the sorting hat wanted me, and still wants me, in Slytherin. So again, does it matter?"

"You, in Slytherin?" Draco looked at him in shock and with some small degree of respect. "Why the hell did you tell it Gryffindor?"

"Language Mister Malfoy," Professor McGonagall called out. "Or it'll be points off."

"Cause of this snotty little blonde ferret I met in Diagon Alley," Harry shot back with a smirk as the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

"Welcome to NEWT level transfiguration," Professor McGonagall greeted them, stepping out from behind the desk as they quieted. "Over the course of the year we will be expanding on your knowledge of basic concepts, topics covered in the past six years, and several individual projects. Some of the new material we will be covering is large-item conjuration, conjuration of materials such as food and living creatures. We will also do a study of animagi, which will be one of your individual projects. With the help of Professor Snape, we will be testing you all to see whether or not you have the ability to become an animagus. If it is found you do, then you will have the option of attending an elective transfiguration class once a week."

Several excited whispers and murmurs broke out, and Professor McGonagall paused in her introduction as she waited for them to settle down again. Just as she was about to speak, Rose started fussing, no longer intrigued by playing with Daphne's silver charm bracelet.

"Sorry Professor," Harry apologised as he took Rose back from Daphne, grabbing a bottle from the diaper bag.

"It's all right Mister Potter," she smiled kindly at the baby. "Though I must insist that if she becomes too fussy, or too much of a distraction, then you will remove yourselves from my class."

"Yes Professor."

"Good. I will now pass out your syllabus and course outline for the year; look it over. We'll start today with a review of basic conjuring. Wands out, and I want to see you all conjuring tea sets; no Miss Granger, pattern, material, style, and colour do not matter. We will be covering things like that later this month."

Hermione lowered her hand, blushing slightly as Ron chuckled, along with a number of others. Everyone knew Hermione was a perfectionist, and liked to know all the details of an assignment. Harry moved Rose so she was sitting on his lap, leaning against his chest, his left hand holding the bottle as he took his wand out with his right. With her bottle, and back in her papa's arms, she was content to watch everyone. Hermione was the first to finish, of course, and had conjured a lovely blue willow patterned tea set for six, complete with a teapot, six teacups and saucers, sugar, creamer, and a bud vase as well. After several tries, Harry managed to do it too, though his was just a simple white teapot and two teacups.

"Harry, would you mind helping me?" Harry looked up to see Susan Bones standing in front of him. Other students were moving around too, getting help from those who had managed it.

"Well, I'm not as good as Hermione, but sure, I can try," Harry shrugged, and step by step, he led her through the wand movements and the process for conjuring.

"I did it!" Susan gave a delighted squeal as she conjured a pretty yellow tea set three tries later. "Thank you Harry!"

"You're the one who did it," he fought a slight blush as she gave him a hug. "Not me."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: It's not mine.

A/N: Hey everyone. Thanks bunches for the reviews; they're most appreciated! I'm sorry this is late- about two weeks late, but I've been extremely busy, so again, I apologise! Now, without further ado, the next chapter.

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Nine

"Master Potter is needing to be awake," an insistent voice reached Harry's subconscious, and he groaned as he slowly traveled to the land of the conscious.

"Huh?" Was Harry's articulate reply.

"Master Potter is needing to be at Defense class in five minutes," the voice kept persisting, and a hand now began shaking his arm.

"Winky?"

"Yes. Master Potter is needing to wake up NOW!"

Harry suddenly felt the covers thrown back, and himself being lifted up, and moved. He struggled against the invisible hand, when finally it dropped him; right in a tub full of cold water. He yelled as he grabbed the edge ad pulled himself over, landing hard on the floor. He sputtered, brushing his dripping hair back from his face as he glared at the house elf standing in front of him.

"WINKY!"

"You is needing to be awake, and you was not waking," she stated, hands on her hips. She snapped her fingers, and he was dry; a second snap, and he was dressed in his school clothes. One final snap had his school bag over one shoulder, a turnover in one hand, and a cup of milk in the other. Before he knew it, he was standing outside his door, barely aware of how he'd gotten there; Duchess was wrapped around his waist, sleepy from the rat she had eaten earlier. Taking a bite of the turnover, he discovered it was hot, and filled with ham and cheese. Running down the steps and out of the common room, Harry gave a wave to the group of first year girls giggling in one corner. He was happy to see Allyn sitting with them, making an effort at making friends. Finishing his turnover, he downed his glass of milk and vanished the paper cup before slowing down and walking through the classroom door, just as the bell rang.

"Cutting it close there, aren't you Harry?" Daphne patted the open seat next to her, and he gratefully slid into it. She helped him unwrap Duchess, coiling her in a pile on the ground, rubbing a finger between her eyes, causing her to hiss with contentment.

"Better late than never," he grinned, not for the first time wondering how their odd relationship came about; they were somewhat friends, yet not quite exactly.

"Here, you've made a mess of yourself," she reached a hand out and swiped a finger along his upper lip. "Milk? Seems like a drink for a child. I guess I don't picture you drinking that."

"My house elf conjured my breakfast for me, and I'm sure she thinks I need the vitamins or calcium or something," Harry shrugged, fighting a blush at the innocent, yet still intimate contact.

"So I hear you're going to Hogsmede with a Puff?"

"Susan Bones, yes. She invited me, and I agreed. Jealous?" Harry teased. "I know you have plans for us to date and all."

"Oh I was simply saying that because I wanted to mess with Draco," she replied with a grin.

"Well I don't think he heard you, otherwise I'm sure he would've hexed me."

"Probably," Daphne agreed, giggling, but quickly stopped as their professor entered the room…or rather, tripped into the room.

"Tonks?!" Harry, Ron, and Hermione chorused together.

"Wotcher guys," she gave them a wave as she went and sat on the edge of the desk. "Hey everyone! My name is Tonks-"

"Isn't it Nymphadora Tonks?" Draco called out. "I've got a cousin on my family tree with that name. Is that you?"

"Yeah _cousin_, that's me, but you ever call me Nymphadora, and this goes for all of you, then you'll be in the hospital wing for weeks," she twirled her wand lovingly, grinning evilly. "As I was saying, my name is Tonks, I'm an auror, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and now, I'm your Defense professor." Suddenly she shot a tickling charm at Draco, who deflected it rather easily.

"Good job," she nodded, hopping off the edge of the desk. "That's one of the things I want to work on with you all; being more aware of your surroundings, and learning to speed up your reflexes. That was one of the things that hurt a lot of people in the war, and while some may say why bother now that we're not fighting, I'd rather you al be prepared. You never know when you'll need skills like these. Not to mention if any of you are considering law enforcement, then it'll give you an edge over the others. Now, I know Harry's been teaching some of you in the DA, so we're going to just start out with some simple things to see what you remember, and work our way through the past six years, reviewing a bunch of stuff, all right?" There were murmurs of agreement from the class.

"Good. So let's pair up, and work on the _protego_ shield. One of you cast the tickling charm, and the other cast the shield charm, then switch. Try to work on how fast you can get your shield up too. I'll be coming around taking attendance, so any questions you have, I'll answer them then."

"So I'm guessing you know her through the Order or something?" Daphne asked as she shot a ticking charm at Harry, who easily put up a shield.

"Yeah, and she's dating Remus…uh, the former Professor Lupin. He was a friend of my father's, and my Godfather's."

"Hmm," she replied noncommittally as he threw a tickling charm at her. She too successfully cast a shield that absorbed it

"What's that supposed to mean?" He looked at her curiously.

"Nothing really. I'm just surprised," she shrugged, sitting back down. "They don't seem like two people who'd date. And how does she deal with his wolfiness? No offense of anything against him, but I'd think that would be a rather intimidating factor. What about when they're fucking? If it were you, wouldn't you be worried about getting bit? Not much is known about what happens to someone who gets bit by a werewolf when they're in their human form."

"I don't know the answers to that," Harry finally said, fighting a small blush at her blunt language. He sat down next to her, both of them watching everyone still working. They had it down and didn't need to do it anymore. "You'd have to ask her if you wanted to know the real answer. My opinion though? When you love someone, you love them completely; as cliché as that may sound, that means loving all of them, including the not so pleasant parts. That's why I think so many relationships fall apart. People don't like the unpleasant things. They don't like dealing with sarcasm, or short tempers, or an inclination for leaving the house messy. Whatever it is, all too often people try to change things, and consequently, their spouse or significant other. _That's_ why things don't work out, cause people aren't willing to make that sacrifice to love a person as they are. And I think that's what love really is; being able to love someone, imperfections and all."

"You've given this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

"My Aunt and Uncle, while they weren't divorced, showed me a lot about the way marriage _shouldn't_ be. I don't want that for me, or for Rose or Allyn either, if I someday start seriously considering marriage to a woman. I don't want them really getting to love a woman who'll only be around for a couple of years before she decides things just aren't good enough for her."

"I don't think you'd ever date a woman with that personality. You just seem like you'd be able to see that in someone after a while. I think that when you do start dating someone, and start thinking about marriage, you'll know; you'll just know if things will work out."

"You two look pretty serious here," Tonks sat on the desk in front of theirs, facing them. "Whatcha talking bout?"

"This and that Professor," Daphne replied evasively. "Daphne Greengrass, Slytherin."

"Tonks," Tonks gave her a grin, then turned to Harry. "I'm guessing the reason you two are just sitting here is because you both already have protego down, and fairly fast reflexes?"

"Yeah, we're good Tonks. How's Remus?"

"Not so hot, but it's the full moon tonight, so that's typical," she shrugged a shoulder, absently chewing on a fingernail as she surveyed the room. Daphne wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"You shouldn't bite your nails," she reprimanded. "That's where bacteria easily gets too, and is the hardest to wash out."

"Doesn't matter to me," Tonks pulled the finger away from her mouth, and a second later a two inch nail was there where formerly only a tiny bit had been.

"How did you do that?"

"Metamorphagus," she grinned, immediately shrinking the nail back while at the same time changing her nose to look like a pig snout.

"Well that explains it," Daphne nodded.

"Yeah, it's lots of fun at parties." Tonks sent her hair cycling through several colours, attracting the other's attention. She walked over to where Hermione, Ron, and the other Gryffindors were, and immediately began putting on a small show, changing her hair and nose to various ones, to everyone's delight.

"She must have been every guy's wet dream and fantasy when she was here," Daphne commented lightly, watching Harry out of the corner of her eye for his reaction.

"Daphne!" Harry's eyes went wide and he couldn't fight a slight blush this time at her words. "Don't say that!"

"Well why not? It's probably true. With that talent, she could fulfill a lot of fantasies by changing into your dream girl," Daphne got quiet for a moment. "Actually, that's probably why she's with the wolf. He never seemed like the type to exploit others. He's probably happy for her to just be however she's most comfortable being."

"Yeah," he nodded in agreement. "You know, I used to wonder for a while if I was one too. Once when I was really little, my aunt gave me this wretched hair cut; cut off everything but a chunk to hide my scar. I went to bed that night absolutely terrified, knowing I'd get beat up again the next day at school. When I woke up though, my hair was back to its usual mess. And I've never really needed a haircut either; I think since that incident I've just always been able to unconsciously keep my hair at this length since I'm afraid of that happening again."

"Well good, I like it like this."

"Hey!" He swatted her hand away as she ruffled his hair.

"I don't see why you're so put off," Draco drawled, turning a chair around and sitting on it backwards. "It's always a complete and utter disaster anyways. She probably helped it."

"Gee, thanks," Harry rolled his eyes. "Nice to know you can count on your friends to be nice."

"No, friends should be honest, not nice," Daphne corrected. "Though it's nice if both happen to prove true in a circumstance."

"Are we friends?" Draco posed the question, looking at Harry, an unreadable look on his face.

"No reason not to be," Harry returned, his face just as masked as Draco's. "We've already shocked everyone by talking to each other in classes. What's being friends going to do, give Ron a heart attack?"

"By all means, don't deprive me of my pleasure of seeing the Weasel die," Draco smirked.

"Well as friends, we should lay some ground rules; no insulting Ron or Hermione. I'm not asking you to be nice-"

"Good, since I don't do nice," Draco interrupted.

"I'm not asking you to be nice, but just don't be insulting."

"I'll try," he finally agreed, after a mild glare from Daphne. "But no promises. And if he pulls his wand on me, I reserve the right to hex him."

"Agreed," Harry shook his hand as the bell rang. "Good. I want to get Rose; I didn't even get a chance to see her this morning, I was running so late."

"Well it looks like she's come to you," Draco nodded to the house elf who appeared in front of them, Daphne and a bottle in her arms.

"Hey sweetheart," Harry lit up as he took Rose, kissing her cheek. "Thanks Winky."

"You is welcome Master Potter," she replied, and disappeared with a pop.

"How's the munchkin Harry?" Tonks fell in beside them as they started for the great hall for lunch, Hermione and Ron also walking with them.

"Good. Getting bigger every day it feels like," he shifted her in his arms a bit as they started up a staircase.

"Kids do that," Tonks laughed.

"Harry!" Harry turned around to see Susan walking quickly to catch up to them. He turned back to his friends. "You guys go on, I'll talk to you later." With smiles, they nodded, and continued walking.

"Hello Harry," Susan smiled as she caught up to him at the top of the stairs.

"Hi Susan, how're you?"

"I'm all right. A bit breathless though, Justin caught me with a tickling charm in Defense, and left it on for a bit."

"Well better a tickling charm then something painful," Harry gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I was wondering if you'd like to eat lunch with me and my friends today?"

"Sure, that's cool with me," he nodded, and was rewarded with a smile.

"Good! We usually sit more towards the middle," she led him down the aisle to where he could see some of the other seventh years already eating. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Susan," they chorused.

"Everyone, you know Harry, and his daughter Rose," she introduced, sitting down, Harry next to her. "Harry, I think you already know everyone, but just to be sure; that's Hannah, Justin and Ernie."

"Hi everyone," he reached out and shook Ernie and Justin's hands when they extended them.

"So you're a dad now," Ernie stated, and Hannah pinched him hard on the arm. "Ow! Hannah! What'd you do that for?"

"One for stating the obvious, and two, for bothering him. You know very well he's a father, and you don't need to be prying for anything else."

"It's all right, really," he assured Hannah. "I don't mind answering questions, and those questions that I do mind, or consider to be prying, then I just won't answer them."

"See, he doesn't care," Ernie stuck his tongue out at Hannah, who pinched him again. "All right! I'm not going to ask anything, I'm just saying that if I did, he wouldn't care."

"Well just because he doesn't care doesn't mean you should ask," she said exasperatedly, and turned to Harry. "Forgive my idiotic friend here, he grew up with apes."

"Hey, don't say that, that's an insult to apes," Justin chuckled, and everyone joined in. "So Harry, I hear Susan convinced you to go to Hogsmede with her this weekend."

"It didn't take much convincing," Harry gave Susan a smile, pleased with himself when she blushed. He enjoyed this flirty type of banter at times. "But yeah, we're going together."

"Well just make sure to treat her right," Justin gave him a pointed look.

"Justin!" Susan blushed again, dropping her face in her hands, groaning. "Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry Harry. Feel free to leave at any time."

"Nah, I think I'm happy right here," he laughed. "My friends are the same way."

"Doesn't make it any less embarrassing," she mumbled from behind her hands.

"All right Susie-Q, we'll stop," Ernie took pity on her. "Hannah and I need to go drop off our books from Defense and grab our Care of Magical Creatures text anyways."

"Thank Merlin," Susan muttered.

"Hey!" Hannah protested.

"I meant see you later," she smiled sweetly at them.

"Of course you did," Hannah rolled her eyes as she and Ernie stood up and left.

"Uh, I'll just go with them," Justin said a few seconds later, and ran to catch up with the two of them.

"Think they were setting us up?" Harry raised an eyebrow as he threw a cloth over his shoulder and shifted Rose to his chest to burp her.

"We Hufflepuffs are not known for our subtlety."

"Gryffindors aren't either, don't worry. Really, they're great. It's nice to get to know them, and you, outside of the DA."

"Speaking of the DA, when are you going to start that up again?"

"Over the weekend I'm going to make up some flyers for an interest meeting to see how many people want to do it this year. Then I have to wait for the quidditch practices to be scheduled, and prefect meetings, and then I should be able to set up a time for the first meeting. Though I'll probably end up doing two meetings like last year; one for the older grades, and one for the youngers."

"It's a good thing you're only taking five classes," she commented. "What electives are you planning on taking?"

"Electives?"

"Oh that's right, you weren't here during breakfast. Anyways, Professor Dumbledore announced that there will be a number of elective classes during the year. Oh, and a costume ball on Halloween, in addition to the feast."

"Great, another ball," Harry sighed. "What are the electives?"

"The prefects posted a list in the common rooms that has them all. The ones I remember are a business slash financial management class, politics and diplomacy class, a stunt flying class, oh what else? Um, I think there was a fashion and design class, an acting class, and a chorus class. There's a few more I think, but those are the ones I remember."

"Wow, sounds like a lot of neat choices. How many can you take?"

"I don't know if there's a limit, since they're all at different times and different days; not to mention they're only once a week. However, the Headmaster did say that if your grades are affected too much, you'll be forced to drop one or more of them till your grades are back up."

"What are you planning on taking?"

"Oh, there was a cooking and household management type of class too, and a healing one," she added. "I want to take those, since I don't know nearly enough about those sorts of things. I was also thinking of the politics and diplomacy class since I'm going into the Ministry like my aunt. I think that's all for me. What do you think you'll take? Actually, what do you think you'll do when you graduate? I've heard everyone say you want to be an auror."

"I did, but that would keep me away from home a lot, and I don't think I'd like to have Rose raised by a babysitter," Harry shrugged as they stood up, their lunches finished. "Where are you headed?"

"Ancient Runes."

"I'll walk you there, it's not too far from Gryffindor Tower," he gave her a smile as they started to leave the hall. He waved to Allyn on his way out, giving her a smile.

"So you never answered my questions," Susan reminded him as they exited the great hall. "What do want to do when you graduate if not an auror? And what electives do you want to take?"

"I want to open an orphanage," he blurted suddenly after a moment. "For magical children, or children from magical families. I mean, there isn't one that I know of; they just keep shoving the kids on other relatives. That's what happened to me, and I grew up pretty miserable. And Rose; I think of what could've happened if I hadn't known about her. She would've gone to a muggle orphanage, where she would've been an outcast possibly due to accidental magic. I don't want that happening to others if it can be prevented. Not to mention I've got plenty of money to do it."

"I think that's a wonderful idea Harry," Susan placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a smile.

"Thanks. So for electives, I think the business one will definitely be useful. Stunt flying might be fun, and healing would definitely be useful since I'm always winding up in the infirmary. And chorus is a definite one too. I'll just have to see how everything works out."

"Chorus, huh? I didn't know you sang."

"Rose is the only one who does," Harry held his daughter tighter, shifting her a bit so she could see a bit better. She was starting to take more of an interest in her surroundings.

"Are you any good?"

"Well I don't really know, as I think everyone tends to be their own worst critic," Harry shrugged. "But I don't think I'm _bad_. Guess I'll find out at the chorus class."

"That you will," she nodded, stopping in front of an open doorway. "This is where I go. Thanks for walking with me."

"Thanks for telling me about the electives and costume ball."

"No problem," she smiled. "I'll see you around."

"Talk to you later," he smiled back, and continued on down the hall, taking a few turns and a staircase before arriving back at the portrait of the fat lady. Not many younger students were there, as most were in classes. Harry only had the basic five classes; charms, transfiguration, DADA, herbology and potions. He'd dropped history and astronomy after the OWLS. So for now, he had a free period, as herbology didn't start until four fifteen, as did all of the older Gryffindors, as they had all dropped Hagrid's class.

"Harry!" Seamus called out.

"Hey guys," he greeted them, sitting down in a chair. "What's going on?"

"Well we're trying to keep the conversation focused on the electives we want to do that'll help us in the future with our careers," Dean stated from where he was lying on a couch, his head in Lavender's lap; they'd been dating since the end of sixth year.

"But the girls keep switching it to the costume ball," Seamus rolled his eyes.

"What do you think Harry?" Parvati asked.

"About the ball?" She nodded in response to his question. "It should be fun. Everyone will have a good time, and it'll be a nice break from routine. However I think you can put off thinking about it too much for another month or so; it's not even a week into September yet. However, the electives will be starting up next week."

"I'm definitely taking the fashion and design class," Parvati squealed, and Lavender immediately agreed. The boys all laughed as Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I think the politics and diplomacy class, as well as the healing have the most merit, in my opinion," Hermione said, resting her head on Ron's shoulder. "And the animagus class too if I have that ability."

"I'm definitely doing the broom stunt class," Ron exclaimed, and Dean and Seamus also nodded their agreement. "That just looks like fun. Though I should probably do the politics class if I go into the ministry like my dad, or become an auror."

"I want to do the acting class, and the business one too," Seamus gave his input. "If I open up my own distillery, that'll be dead useful. And I like acting too; my dad did some acting in college."

"Besides the flying class, I think the art class they have looks good, and the cooking and household class too," Dean listed his choices. Harry assumed the art class was one on the list that Susan hadn't remembered. He made a note to check what else there was.

"Why the cooking one?" Ron asked.

"Cause I don't know how to, or how to clean, so that'll be good once I'm out of school."

"Makes sense. I'll just go home for food," Ron laughed. "What are you going to take Harry?"

"The business one definitely, and the chorus one too. I'm also thinking about the flying one, and the healing one wouldn't be bad either with how often I end up in the infirmary."

"Chorus?" Lavender perked up. "You sing Harry?"

"I like to, yeah, usually to Rose to help her fall asleep," he shrugged.

"And I thought I knew most everything about you," Hermione commented. "That's interesting. Now I understand why you want to take the flying one, since you're good at that, and the healing one as well, but why the business one? I mean, why not the dueling one instead, or something that'll help you with being an auror?"

"I don't want to be an auror Hermione," he said bluntly, and everyone stared at him in surprise.

"Why not?" Parvati spoke for everyone.

"I've got Rose now, so I don't want to put myself in unnecessary danger. And I'm tired of fighting; I've had enough of it."

"Well what do you want to do instead?" Seamus asked.

"I want to open up an orphanage for magical kids, or kids from magical families," he told them, bouncing Rose a bit as she fussed; it was almost her nap-time. "Hence the business class."

"That's wonderful Harry," Neville said softly, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"Well I have plenty of money, so why not spend it on something useful," he shrugged, standing up. "I've got to put her down for her nap, and I think I'm gonna take one too."

"You're getting old mate," Ron teased.

"I wouldn't change a thing," he laughed, and headed up the stairs.

He lied down with Rose in his bed, and fell asleep quickly, though his nap was shorter than he would've liked. Getting up he called Winky, and handed Rose over to her. He gathered his gloves and dragonhide robe, and stuffing them in his bag, headed back down to the common room. He met up with Lavender and Parvati getting ready to head down to the greenhouses as well, and fell in with them. They would be in greenhouse five this year, the most dangerous of them all, and were slightly apprehensive and excited at the same time.

Neville was already there, and quite filthy by the time the class had gathered; he nearly lived in the greenhouses, and was working as an apprentice to Professor Sprout, and was planning on going into a career as a herbologist for a potion's company. He'd already been given the job offer, and was going to sign the contract upon graduation. The lesson went quickly, though everyone was constantly having to keep an eye on the plants around them. You never knew which plant was going to try and eat you next, or send poisonous spikes through you, or spit fire.

Even though it was only the first week of school, the seventh years, and fifth years also, found themselves swamped with homework; reading, writing papers, and doing practical work as well. So when Friday afternoon came, and their last class of the day completed, they happily retreated to the common room after dinner to just revel in the fact it was the weekend. Even Hermione joined them, deciding that being two weeks ahead in all her classes was fine for the time being, and that she could take a break.

"Is it going to be like this the entire year?" Ron groaned as Hermione sat down on the loveseat next to him. The seventh years were gathered in one corner of the common room.

"No," Hermione answered, and he gave a sigh of relief. "It'll just get worse the nearer we get to NEWTS."

"Mione," Ron whined.

"Oh don't whine Ron, it's not like I can do anything about it," she kissed his cheek in consolation.

"Let's not talk about school," Seamus groaned like Ron had. "How about Hogsmede instead, that's tomorrow, and I think I nearly as excited about going tomorrow as the first time we did as third years."

"I know! And they've got a few new shops as well, including one with muggle clothes, and costumes too," Parvati gave a happy little sigh.

"Should be useful for the costume ball then," Harry agreed with a shrug. Like most of the guys, he was looking forward to the break from school and such, but wasn't terribly crazy about the ball itself.

"Yes," Lavender agreed. "I'm quite excited about looking around and seeing what they have. It'll give me plenty of time to decide if I want to buy one or transfigure something instead. Though I'll need your help with that if I do Hermione, I'm horrible with transfiguration."

"Sure, if you'll help me with hair and make-up- and _not_ go overboard or do anything other than that," Hermione said sternly, seeing Lavender ready to offer a full-blown make-over.

"All right," she conceded.

"Excuse me," Allyn came over.

"What shrimp?" Seamus rolled his eyes, though he was grinning.

"I'm not a shrimp," she pursed her lips as she glared at him, then focused her attention on Harry. "My room-mates and I were wondering if you'd do us a favour?"

"If I can, what?"

"Well Jennifer, and Marie are witches, so they've had lots of sweets growing up," Allyn explained. "But the rest of us haven't, so we were wondering, if we gave you some money and a list, would you pick up some sweets for us?"

"I suppose I could do that," he nodded, and took the list and money bag she handed him, giving her a smile before she went back to her room-mates. He was glad to see her making friends with them.

"Thank you!"

"You're too nice to the shrimp mate," Seamus commented. "Usually you don't pay them any mind, but this year you've been all friendly with them."

Harry knew this was a good opening to tell them about Allyn being his daughter, but he still just couldn't bring himself to share that bit of information yet.

"I think it's just cause I've got Rose, so I've gotten a higher tolerance for the youngers is all," he shrugged. "And I remember being incredibly jealous of the older kids when we were first years, getting all the sweets and other stuff. So I figure it's my last year here, it won't kill me to be nice."

"That's very mature of you Harry," Hermione nodded proudly, then turned and smacked Ron who was mimicking her.

"Thanks Mione," Harry chuckled as his two best friends promptly started a tickle war.

"So who's going with who tomorrow?" Seamus asked.

"Me and Mione," Ron took a break from the tickle fight to answer.

"Lav and I," Dean answered.

"I'm going with Susan Bones, and Rose of course," Harry smiled at his daughter, who was currently sleeping in Neville's arms.

"I'm just going with my sister," Parvati pouted.

"Not going," Neville shrugged, then smiled. "I'm going to work with Professor Sprout in the greenhouses. She just got a new Devil's Snare seedling to be transplanted. How bout you Seamus?"

"I'm not going either," he groaned. "I've got detention with McGonagall. I was out after curfew."

"That sucks," Ron gave him a sympathetic grin; he'd won the tickle fight. "Anything you want us to bring you?"

"Nah, I'm good. I don't need any sweets or school stuff, and I already know what my costume's gonna be."

"Ooh, what?" Lavender asked excitedly, always happy to turn the conversation back to the ball.

"Football player of course," he grinned. "Dean's going to let me borrow a jersey and cleats, and a ball too, so I'm good."

"Lucky you," Ron sighed. "Knowing my intelligent girlfriend here, she'll find some obscure couple I've never heard of to go as."

"Shut it you," she smack his arm. "Who are you going with Harry?"

"Not sure. I've got plenty of time to worry about it anyways."

"What about Susan?"

"What about her?" He looked confused.

"What Hermione is trying to say is why don't you ask Susan to the ball?" Parvati informed him.

"We haven't even gone on a date yet," he rolled his eyes. "I don't even know if we're going to get along well _like that_. I mean she's a nice girl, but that doesn't mean we'll be a good couple. So I'm just going to see how things go tomorrow, and take it from there. Now if we're done discussing my love life, I'm going to bed."

"Yes, you have to get your beauty sleep for your big date tomorrow," Lavender giggled, and everyone laughed as Harry rolled his eyes, took Rose from Neville, and headed up to his room.

* * *

A/N: Okay, that's it for this chapter. Hope you all enjoyed. I'm really working on having more conversations, and trying to take things slower. Hence the reason for explaining some of the classes, and all the conversations and such. That was fun though. I know the whole Draco/Harry thing may not be the most realistic, but the way I see it, if Draco's had a bit of a change of heart, and doesn't have to be a total bastard anymore, then they might be able to have a friendship. I personally think they're similar in a number of ways, and it helps that Daphne and Allyn are pushing them to be nice to each other. Anyways, leave a review if you like, and the next chapter up in a week. 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine, sorry.

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews; I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Sorry this one took a while- I keep going home for the weekend, and forgetting my jump drive to upload it at home. But here it is. Next one will be posted next Friday (not this Friday, but the one after). So I apologise in advance, but hey, this chappie's 6,500 words roughtly! Now on with the chappie!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Ten

"**Duchess, do you have to come with me**?" Harry hissed to her as he pulled on a pair of jeans.

"**You'll get in trouble without me**," she hissed back lazily, curling up on his bed on top of the shirt he was planning on wearing.

"**Get off my shirt**," he yanked on it, pushing her off gently. "**And I won't get in trouble. The last of those death eaters who were still around were captured while I was in London. And you haven't been coming to classes with me.**"

"**That's because there's no one to worry about in any of your classes**," she said smugly. "**And if you get cursed or hexed in class, you either deserved it or weren't quick enough to avoid it.**"

"**Nice**," he shot her a look. "**But please Duchess, it's gonna be awkward enough on the date without you there adding your snide comments. I mean, I've only gone on two dates really; Cho and Ginny. And Parvati at the Yule ball hardly counts. Not to mention that Susan doesn't particularly like snakes**."

"**Oh very well**," she sighed. "**I'll leave you be. Just don't expect it every time. I think you should also make it a condition that anyone who likes you also has to like your snake, as well as your munchkins**."

"**Perhaps, but it's just a date**," Harry pointed out. "**I'm not talking about forever, I'm just talking about today**."

Duchess' response was to uncurl and slither down to the common room. Gathering Rose in his arms after throwing the diaper bag over his shoulder, he followed her down. She of course, had slithered over to the first year girls who were rather taken with her, Allyn especially. Duchess, Harry swore, smirked at him as the first year girls lathered attention on her, praising and petting her as she coiled up in the middle of them.

"Have fun Harry!" They all called collectively, giggling when he gave them a theatrical salute before exiting through the portrait. He made his way to the entrance hall where he and Susan had agreed to meet.

"Hello Harry!" Susan greeted him warmly as he stepped off the last step. "Hello Rose."

"Hi Susan," he smiled, and called on some of the advice Lacey had given him in regards to girls; always compliment them. "You look pretty."

"Thank you," she blushed. Harry didn't have to try hard to compliment her; she _was_ looking pretty in her yellow jumper and jeans, her hair in a ponytail. He was glad she wasn't one of those types who tried to dress all fancy, and wear copious amounts of makeup and jewellery in an attempt to impress a guy.

"Ready to go?" Harry asked after a slight awkward pause.

"Yes," she nodded, and he motioned for her to precede him out the doors, giving her a hand up into the carriage. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he nodded, and they settled into another slightly awkward silence. Harry didn't like these, and raced through a list of things in his mind to talk about. Susan however saved him.

"How's Rose doing?"

"She's good," Harry looked down at his daughter who he'd dressed in a pair of purple leggings and a purple and pink striped t-shirt, with a black robe over top. "I think she's settling in pretty well. I was worried that all the people and magic in the castle might overwhelm her. If anything though, I think she loves it, and the attention she gets from my friends and the professors."

"Any favourites?"

"Either Professor Dumbledore or Professor Flitwick. She loves Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice, and always coos and squeals whenever we're in charms and he's talking."

"And Professor Dumbledore?"

"She loves to grab hold of his beard and play with it," Harry shared a laugh with Susan. "And I think she likes all the brightly coloured robes he wears, just like a typical girl."

"Hey, I resent that!" Susan tried to glare, but only managed another giggle.

"I'm only joking, though I will say I think there's some truth in it. All girls have _some_ interest in colours and clothing. Guys are the same way too, though yeah, we don't care nearly as much."

"Some of you do," Susan pointed out as the carriage came to a stop. Harry helped her down once again, and they fell into step beside each other.

"Like who?"

"Malfoy for instance; he always makes sure his robes are the best you can have, and that they're the latest style."

"I won't completely disagree, but I think some of that is simply pride and how he was raised," Harry shrugged as they reached main street. "Three Broomsticks for lunch?"

"Sure," she agreed, and they started there. "Continue about Malfoy?"

"Well he was always raised that Malfoy's have the best, wear the best, are the best, and so on. So for him it's probably just second nature to make sure his robes are expensive and of the highest quality; not because he really cares about what he's wearing, or the colour and cut of them."

"Well what about you then? I mean, you looked nice at the Yule ball, and you've got some nice clothes on now," Susan gestured to the khaki pants and dark gray long-sleeved waffle-print shirt he had on. Simple, but it looked good on him.

"Mrs. Weasley was responsible for those dress robes, though I did pick out some new ones a while back, though again, I had help from Madame Malkin with those. And these clothes are only because I had some help from a friend during the summer who took me shopping. She's the one responsible for my new clothes, otherwise I'd probably still just have all of my cousin's old things, or my school stuff. As for the school stuff, that's all standard, and I don't particularly care for fancier fabric as opposed to the typical stuff. Between classes and everything else, it all just gets stained, torn, and dirty anyways, so why waste money?"

"I know it makes sense," Susan said as they entered the pub and sat down in a booth. "But I think there is something fun about having the nice expensive material. They just feel better on than the regular ones do."

"I'll take your word for it," Harry shrugged, not really agreeing, but not caring much either. "Do you know what you want for lunch so I can go order food?"

"Just fish and chips, and a butterbeer," Susan began digging into her purse to find her wallet.

"I've got it, really," Harry held up a hand when she started to protest his paying. "It's the gentlemanly like thing to do. I'll be back in a minute with lunch."

"All right," she smiled. "Want me to hold Rose so your hands are free?"

"Sure," he handed Rose to her, and went up to the bar to grab two orders of fish and chips, and two butterbeers. Madam Rosmerta quickly had them whipped up, and Harry took them back to the table.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," he nodded, taking Rose back. "I don't think I knew they served up muggle food here."

"I only found out near the end of last term myself," she ate a chip before continuing. "I saw a hag order some, and asked Madam Rosmerta about it; she's got a whole menu of muggle foods she serves, I think because of the number of squibs who visit."

"Makes sense, and doesn't hurt with all the kids from muggleborn families either."

"No, that's why I was wondering why she doesn't have the menu out anywhere, and it's by request only."

"Probably just because she doesn't want to drive away any of the purebloods who come in here," Harry shrugged, and as the silence took over, took a couple bites of food. "This is good!"

"You seem surprised," Susan laughed.

"Well I didn't know how muggle food would turn out coming from a witch, or more likely, her house elves."

"We share most of the same dishes, muggles and wizards," Susan pointed out. "It's really just the dishes that are more fast-food types that we don't have."

"Well then I think I need to talk to Professor Dumbledore about having a pizza party," Harry grinned. "And then open a pizza parlor. I'd be rich!"

"You already are Harry," Ron commented with a chuckle as he and Hermione stopped in front of their booth. Harry hadn't even noticed them come in.

"Thanks for the reminder," Harry rolled his eyes. "I was only kidding. Not like I want anymore money anyways."

"Yeah," Ron grinned. "So how 'bout I open this, what'd you call it, a pizza parlor?"

"Yeah, and best of luck to you if you do."

"Are you having a good time?" Hermione asked, directing the question to both of them.

"Yes, he's very sweet," Susan gave a cheeky grin when Harry coloured slightly.

"Yeah Mione, we're having a nice time," he looked at their plates, which were both nearly empty. "Are you done?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Want to get out of here, go visit some stores or whatnot?" Harry stood up, and she did the same.

"You two can have our booth, it's getting pretty crowded in here," Susan offered as the table automatically cleaned itself.

"Thanks, and have fun," Hermione accepted since Ron had gone to the bar to get some butterbeer for them.

"So…anywhere in particular you want to go?" Harry asked as they emerged from the pub into the bright sunlight.

"I need to pick up some more quills," she said. Harry gave her an inquisitive look.

"How'd you manage to run out? It's only the end of the first week."

"Hannah and I got into a pillow fight the other day, and I accidentally sat on my bag, where of course I happened to have nearly all my quills," Susan looked sheepish.

"I see," he grinned, and they started heading down the street. "Anywhere else?"

"Honeydukes, for some sweets, and that new costume shop, if that's all right with you."

"Sure. I wanted to stop at Honeydukes for some sweets for me, not to mention the Gryffindor first year girls asked me to pick up some things for them," Harry thought for a moment. "And the costume shop probably isn't a bad idea simply because I should start getting some ideas as to what I want to go as. You know what you want your costume to be?"

"I think I'm going to go as an auror; my aunt can lend me one of her old auror robes for a night. If not that, then just something simple like a kneazle. Cat ear head bands and attachable tails are always a good fall-back plan."

"Good idea," Harry commented as they walked into Scrivenshaft's so Susan could buy her quills. "I never got to dress up for Halloween as a kid, so I really don't have the slightest idea as to what to dress up as."

"Well think about quidditch teams, or books you've read, or movies you've seen, and characters from those that you like," she suggested as she grabbed a pack of quills. "Then just pick one of your favourites, and model yourself after him. Or ask Hermione for help. I'm sure she'd be able to think of an idea."

"Yeah, I may do that."

"Honeydukes next, or the costume store?"

"Let's go to the costume store," he suggested after a moment. "I've got quite a load to pick up from Honeydukes, so I'd rather do that last. I don't particularly feel like carrying that around any longer than I have to."

"Sounds good," Susan agreed, and they headed to the costume store.

The costume store, which also had a section of muggle clothes, was teeming with students. Most of them were browsing the costumes, no doubt getting ideas for the upcoming ball, though Harry did see a number of people getting in line to buy a costume. The nice thing about the store was that the costumes were all one-of-a-kind, so you didn't have to worry about someone dressing the same as you; though the masks weren't under the same restrictions. If someone did want the same costume however, the first purchaser could give their permission for another to be made. Harry knew some people would probably want to dress alike, so that was a pretty good idea.

"Oh look at that Harry," Susan could barely get out through her sudden giggles.

"What?" He looked around, trying to see what was so funny.

"They have a costume of you!" She burst into full-blown laughter.

"WHAT!?"

"Well not a full costume," she pointed to the wall. "Just a mask."

"How can they do that?!" He stormed over to the wall angrily and tore it off the nail.

"Oh it's just for fun, and no doubt because you're a hero. Look," she tried to placate him. "They've got Professor Dumbledore and Merlin here too."

"I don't care who else they have," he growled, upsetting Rose. He immediately began calming himself down, and soothed her.

"I don't know why you're getting so upset," she looked at him in confusion, and he whirled about to look at her, fighting to keep his temper in check.

"All my life, it's always been '_the boy who lived'_ this, and '_the boy who lived'_ that, and I hate it. The triwizard tournament, which I didn't even want to be in, didn't help matters at all. The attention I got from defeating Voldemort I didn't even deserve cause I never could've done without everyone's help. The only thing I think I deserve attention for is quidditch possibly, if I ever make it a career. I know you may not understand, but I just want a quiet life. And this," he looked at the mask in disgust, "is just one more way attention's being drawn to me, and without my permission at that! If they wanted to do this, they should have some sort of contract with me, not that I'd ever sign, but this is exploitation."

"Well, just talk to the owners of the establishment then," Susan offered. Harry could see she still didn't completely get his reasoning, but he didn't feel like trying to explain it again.

"Yeah, I'm going to do that," he turned to head towards the counter, then paused and turned back to her. "I don't know how long I'll be…"

"I understand," she nodded. "We weren't really all that well matched, were we?"

"Not as a couple, no," he shook his head. "Sorry."

"Don't be, I felt it too," she gave him a smile. "Still friends though?"

"Of course," he smiled back, glad they were parting on easy terms. They weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend, so it wasn't even really a break-up anyways. He was just glad she didn't get all crazy and emotional about it. Too bad they didn't "click" with each other. But he had been thinking it wasn't going to go beyond that first date during the awkward silences; if a relationship was going to work, he figured you wouldn't feel the need to fill each silence, even if it was the first date.

"See you around Harry," she bid him farewell and headed over to the entrance where Justin had just entered.

"Excuse me," Harry pushed past everyone to the front of the line. "I need to speak with the owner of the store."

"I'm sorry, but Miss Lamb doesn't have time-" the clerk started to say.

"Then tell her to make time before I sue her," Harry demanded, slamming the mask down on the counter. The clerk looked from the mask to Harry's face, paling, and hurried through a door behind her.

"You can go on in," the clerk told him when she came back out a minute later.

"Thank you," he nodded curtly, apologised to the kids in line behind him, then walked around the counter and through the door.

"I'm Marilyn Lamb, what can I do for you Mister Potter?"

"You can stop selling these," he tossed the mask on her desk.

"Absolutely not, they're one of the best sellers we have, both here and in Diagon Alley, and my stores have only been open a month," she stated firmly.

"Well then maybe you can explain where you got permission from to use my face?"

"It's not your face," she pointed to the scar on the mask. "See, the scar is half again as long as yours is."

"And the name of the masks?" He snorted. "_The-Boy-Who-Lived-Mask_."

"Like you're the only boy who lived; it could apply to any male out there."

"Oh please," he sneered at her. "I don't believe that, and neither will my solicitors."

"Solicitors?" Marilyn Lamb's eyes grew wide as her face paled.

"Yes," he grinned evilly. "You don't honestly think I manage all my wealth and accounts by myself, do you?"

"N-no," she stammered.

"Good, now let's see if we can't work out some sort of deal, hmm?"

"Yes, of course," Marilyn was quick to agree.

A scant twenty minutes later, it was decided that Harry would receive forty percent of all profits from the masks sold, as well as a twenty-five percent discount in the store. They drew up a contract which they both signed, and Harry went on his way, a good deal happier than when he had come in. The money he made from the mask sales would be deposited into what he privately called his 'business account', as it held both money he made from Fred and George's shop, and now from Creative Clothing. He liked to keep it separate from his personal vault, the Black vault, and the Potter vault; all in all which made him a very desirable customer to the goblins at Gringotts.

"Harry!" He turned around to see Ginny and Luna coming towards him.

"Hey guys," he gave them each a hug and kiss on the cheek in greeting. "How's it going?"

"Good, we were just getting ready to go into the costume shop here," Ginny answered. "How's your date with Susan going?"

"Ah, we broke it off," Harry admitted sheepishly.

"So soon?"

"Yeah. Well, we just kinda knew that while we're good at being friends, we just wouldn't be good at being a couple, so we figure why not split up now and go meet friends? Not to mention I had to be all mean and intimidating to the store owner for selling a mask of my face."

"She didn't!" Ginny gasped in shock, and listened to Harry explain what had happened.

"Well if we want to buy anything then we'll just be sure to find you to pay for it," Ginny teased. "Did you want to hang out with me and Luna? You're welcome to."

"No thanks. I think I'll just run to Honeydukes to pick up the sweets, and then just head back to the castle for a quiet afternoon."

"Suit yourself then," Luna shrugged, and then turned to go into the store, with Ginny behind her.

"Shall we sweetheart?" Harry looked down at Rose, and saw she was asleep. "Am I truly that boring? Worse things to be I suppose, huh?"

Harry set off to Honeydukes and ended up spending a good deal of money on two large bags of sweets. The store owner seemed surprised at the exorbitant amount of Bertie Bott's, chocolate frogs, licorice wands, Droobles best blowing gum, sugar quills, and a couple dozen bars of their best milk chocolate; at least until Harry explained he was buying it for a number of first year girls.

"Aye, girls, especially young ones, have a large sweet tooth," he grinned at Harry as he rung and packed everything up. "There ye go Mister Potter, and you and the wee bonny lass have a wonderful day."

"Thank you Mr. Honeyduke," Harry grinned, and slid both bags, magically lightened, onto his arm, and left the station.

He took his time walking back to the carriage point, just enjoying the day. It was a beautiful September day, with just a hint of chill in the air, and he had fun taking a few pictures of him and Rose together. Charmed cameras were a great thing, especially when there weren't others around to take the picture for you. He reached the carriages, and climbed into one which set off immediately back to the castle. The trip didn't take long, and before he knew it, he was back in the common room. He looked around, but didn't see the girls anywhere.

"They're probably in their dorm," he mused. "Winky!"

"Master Potter is calling?" Winky appeared with a pop.

"Would you mind taking Rose and putting her in her crib?"

"Winky is not minding Master Potter," Winky smiled, and took Rose and disappeared once again with another pop.

"All right, time to go find the munchkins," he said aloud, and went over to the girl's staircase, and sent a thought to the school. "_Hello Hogwarts. May I ask permission to take this up to my daughter and her dorm mates?_"

Like before, a feeling of consent tickled through his mind and he made his way up the staircase to the first year's room. As he approached the door, he heard giggles and squeals, and hesitantly knocked. The noise stopped immediately, and he heard one set of footsteps approach the door. It cracked open to reveal Shonda, the tall black girl, and upon seeing him, she pushed the door open and grabbed his hand to pull him in. Before he knew what was happening, he'd been swarmed by five hyper eleven year olds, who grabbed the bags and began digging through them.

"Hey, no need to crush me," he mock-glared as he pushed himself into a sitting position; he'd been knocked on his arse in their excitement.

"Sorry," Ariella, the brunette apologised, munching contentedly on a chocolate frog.

"Thank you so much Harry!" Allyn threw her arms around his neck, and the next thing he knew, he was being hugged by all the girls.

"You're quite welcome," he laughed, attempting to hug them back, though it was hard to figure out where one girl stopped and another started. "So what have you been up to?"

"Marie got her Witch Weekly magazine this morning, so we've been playing with some of the charms in there; they're really easy ones," Jennifer explained as they all settled back on the floor around Harry.

"There're a couple of make-up ones, and some hair styling ones, as well as a hair growing charm, and some colouring ones too," Marie grabbed the magazine and showed him.

"Not exactly something I could use, but I'm glad you're having fun."

"You could use the hair growing one, or the colour changing one," Shonda pointed out, getting a mischievous look on her face.

"Whatever you're thinking of, the answer's no!" Harry tried to stand up, but Jennifer and Shonda each sat on a leg, while Allyn and Ariella each grabbed an arm.

"We're just going to grow your hair out," Marie giggled, grabbing her wand from her bedside table.

"I like it short," he protested, though he wasn't trying to hard to get away; he didn't want to accidentally hurt one of them, not to mention the four of them were pretty strong.

"Have you ever had it long?"

"No," he said slowly.

"Well then you don't know if you like it long, do you?" Marie gave him a satisfied smirk, and proceeded to grow his hair out nearly a foot, so it was several inches below his shoulders. Grabbing a ponytail that Jennifer handed her, she easily pulled it into a low ponytail at his neck. Only then did the girls allow him to get up.

"So what do you think?" Ariella asked him as he walked over to look at himself in the mirror that hung on the back of their door.

"I don't know," he answered honestly as he looked at his reflection. "I've always had it short as long as I can remember. What do you girls think?"

"I love it," Allyn clapped her hands.

"I agree with Allyn, it looks really good," Shonda nodded.

"If you don't believe us, then just leave it like this for a couple hours and see what your friends think," Marie suggested. "Then if you still don't like it, we can change it back."

"All right," he sighed, knowing they probably wouldn't change it back now even if he wanted them to. "But if people make fun of me than I'm blaming you all."

"Of course," Jennifer gave him a cheeky grin. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

"You girls are all entirely too Slytherin for your own good," he teased. "You sure the hat didn't make a mistake?"

"Nope," they all chorused, breaking into giggles.

"That's my cue to leave," he said, eyebrows raised in amusement. He was very happy to see Allyn giggling and being silly like the others…even if it was at his expense.

"No!" They all protested, once again in unison.

"Please stay?" Shonda asked, speaking for all of them. Harry noticed she seemed to be the 'leader' of the group, so to speak.

"And do what? I'm not about to let you use any more of those beauty charms on me."

"Help us with defense? We're working on the disarming spell," Shonda told him. "_Expelliarmus_ or something like that I think."

"Yeah, and we're all absolute rubbish at it," Ariella gave a defeated sigh.

"And charms!" Marie threw herself on her bed with an exasperated groan. "I may be good at beauty charms, but that's only cause my mum is a writer for Witch Weekly's beauty section. I think if I say _wingardium leviosa_ one more time, without getting it to work, I'm gonna go insane!"

"Well pull out your wands, and let me see how you're doing it," Harry offered. "C'mon now, all of you. We'll hold a practical lesson right now and see if we can't get those two spells to work."

The girls all eagerly complied, and soon Harry found himself teaching the finer points of _expelliarmus_ and _wingardium leviosa_. He realised their biggest problem was the pronunciation of the spells, especially with the levitating one; they were doing the same thing Ron had when they were first years. Their problem with the disarming spell was that they weren't very good at aiming yet. In order for that spell to work, you had to be able to directly hit your opponent. Otherwise, it wouldn't work. So Harry quickly taught them a colouring charm that would send a small ball of paint from the tip of your wand when cast, and set up a target on one side of the room for them to practice on. This might not have been the brightest idea, as that side of the room was soon covered with red paint drops. So he quickly taught them a simple cleaning charm as well, and told them how to call Dobby for additional help cleaning, should they need it.

"Now I think that's all we've got time for," Harry glanced at his watch as the girls groaned in disappointment. "None of that now, it's time for dinner, and I'm rather hungry."

"Can't we just eat chocolate instead?" Allyn pouted.

"You could, but you know it's not healthy," he gave her a look. "After dinner you can have some. And that goes for all of you; you shouldn't eat it all at once, or you'll end up with a stomachache."

"Yes Dad," Ariella rolled her eyes, but packed up her sweets and put them in her trunk, as did the others.

"I already have two girls, I don't need any more," he shot back with a laugh, then sobered when he realised his mistake.

"Two?" Shonda was quick to catch that. "Everyone knows about Rose, but who's the other?"

"I am," Allyn spoke up hesitantly after getting a nod from Harry. "He adopted me at the beginning of the year cause…"

"Cause why?" Jennifer's brow was furrowed in confusion.

"You don't have to," Harry knelt by Allyn.

"Yeah, I do," she told him, then looked back at her dorm mates and took a deep breath. "Cause I was abused at the orphanage, by my dorm-mates there, and one of the men who worked there."

"Oh Allyn," Marie's eyes filled with tears. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't want you to think I was a freak," Allyn whispered, ducking her head. Harry sat down on her bed, and pulled Allyn up in his lap as she started to cry.

"Never," Ariella stated firmly as she climbed up next to them and wrapped her arms around them.

"We're friends, now and forever," Shonda added as she and Jennifer also climbed up and hugged them, also crying.

Harry felt his heart nearly burst with pride for the show of loyalty; he knew Allyn would be well taken care of. Especially as he couldn't be there to protect her all the time, nor would he want to. Part of Hogwarts was learning to be independent, and learning to get along on your own without your parents there to monitor you constantly. Harry didn't want to take that away from her.

"All right everyone," he said softly so as not to startle them. "Let's dry faces and wipe eyes, and go get some dinner, hmm? Then we can go to the common room and I'll teach you wizard's chess."

At the prospect of food, which is always welcome after both hard work and emotional crises, the girls hopped off the bed and ran into the bathroom to clean their faces. This left Harry alone with Allyn for a minute on her bed, with her still sitting in his lap sideways, cuddled up against him.

"I'm proud of you," he whispered, lightly rubbing circles on her back as she got her emotions back under control.

"For crying?" She gave a derisive snort.

"No, for telling them, and being open when you didn't have to," he chided gently, lifting her in his arms as he slid off the bed. "And for making friends with them, and giving them a chance, even when you had every reason not to after the orphanage." He set her on her feet. "You gonna be all right?"

"Yeah," she nodded, then tentatively slid her arms around his waist and burrowed her head against his stomach. "I love you Papa."

"Love you too Lyn," he ran a hand over her hair.

"Allyn!" Shonda's voice echoed from the bathroom. "Come on and wash your face!"

"You go on, and I'll meet you guys down in the common room; I have to grab Rose," he gave her a slight push in the direction of the bathroom before turning and leaving.

"_Thank you_," he directed his thoughts to Hogwarts. "_I know you saw what went on, and it wouldn't have happened without your help in allowing me up, so thank you again for that. I am in your debt my dear Lady_."

"_You're welcome my son_," a warm melodic voice filled the back of his mind, and Harry nearly fell down the steps, so surprised was he.

"_You speak_?"

"_Only to those who listen_," she replied, her voice filled with mirth. "_Many don't realise that I'm sentient, as you have, and as such, don't believe I can speak. That keeps them from being able to hear me. Your Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is able to, as have all the Headmasters and Headmistresses. It is something passed down when each new headmaster takes over the wards and care of the castle. But other than them, I only speak to those who I deem worthy and pure of heart, such as yourself. You're such a nice boy, I wish you had spoken with me earlier_."

"_My apologies Lady_."

"_None are necessary. Now go and get your little one; I believe she has woken up and is feeling hungry_."

"_Thank you_!" Harry smiled, and hurried down the steps, pleased with this recent development, as well as everything else that had happened that afternoon.

"**How was your date**?"

"Well that's a lovely way to greet me," Harry said sarcastically as Duchess slithered over. "And the date was okay. We both agreed we were better off as friends."

"**Good, I didn't like her much anyways**," Duchess said, rather nastily.

"**That's rude**."

"**That's the truth. Besides, she didn't like me either**."

"**Well you are somewhat intimidating, and snakes aren't especially friendly, usually**."

"**No, we're just misunderstood and cautious, which can come off as unfriendly**," Duchess corrected him before changing the subject. "**Why don't you ask Daphne out? I like her**."

"**Because she's not interested in me**," Harry rolled his eyes.

"**And how do you know? She keeps flirting with you, and saying you'll be her boyfriend someday**."

"**She was just trying to get a rise out of Malfoy**."

"**Draco**."

"**Fine, Draco. That's all**."

"**If you say so**," she snorted, which sounded rather odd coming from a snake.

"**I'm heading down to dinner**," Harry told her as he picked up Rose and a bottle. "**You coming or staying**?"

"**Oh I'll come and give all the Hufflepuffs a scare**," Duchess gave a hiss of laughter, and followed him down the stairs.

"Took you long enough," Marie stood at the bottom, fisted hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

"_Took you long enough_," Harry mimicked her. "Do you talk to your mother like that?"

"Doesn't matter whether I do or not, cause you're _her_ father," Marie pointed to Allyn.

"Yeah, and don't tell anyone please," Harry asked them.

"Well why not?"

"Because our relationship is still very new, and I'd rather get to know Lyn better myself, without having to deal with the rest of Hogwarts populous watching and interfering," Harry explained.

"All right, we understand," Shonda assured him, and the girls nodded in agreement. "We'll keep quiet, Gryffindor's honour."

"Thanks, now come on, I'm hungry enough I think I could eat a hippogriff," he grinned, and they exited the common room, talking a mile a minute about some new book series.

He enjoyed listening to them, though he didn't hardly catch a word they were saying, they were talking so fast. With them, he felt like he was getting a glimpse of what Hermione might've gone through when they were first years; being the only girl in a group of guys. Except of course he was the only guy in a group of girls, but it was the same principal. So involved with 'listening' to them, that he hardly noticed the looks he got from other students as they walked through the halls. Still in his muggle clothes without robes, and with the now-long hair pulled back in a ponytail, he was drawing some attention. Walking in the midst of a group of first year girls didn't help much either. As a general rule, most of the older years weren't really _friends_ with the youngers. They'd help with tutoring sometimes, or on quidditch teams for example, but they generally didn't hang out together other than that.

"Oy, Harry!" Ron's voice caught his attention as they entered the hall.

"We'll see you later Harry!" They chorused together, giggling, as they sat down closer to the door. Harry shook his head as he continued down to where his year-mates were; the girls must have planned that whole 'speaking in perfect unison' thing.

"Harry, your hair!" Lavender gasped as he sat down next to her, immediately turning his head with her hand so she could see it better.

"Oh yeah, that. If it's bad, blame Marie, she cast the charm," he said as she pulled out the ponytail holder, running her fingers through his hair.

"No, it looks good, it's just different," Hermione said critically after looking him over. "I'm so used to seeing you with the short hair."

"Yeah, ditto," he nodded, motioning for Lavender to put his hair back in a ponytail.

"Why'd you grow it? Actually, how'd you grow it?" Dean asked.

"And who's Marie?" Seamus added his question.

"Marie is one of the first year Gryffindor girls. When I went to their room to drop off their sweets they ambushed me with some hair-growth charm from their magazine," Harry explained. "Hence the reason I've got the long hair."

"Are you going to keep it like that?" Parvati had come to stand behind him, playing with his hair also. "It looks good."

"I'll be keeping it at least for tonight; girls' orders," Harry chuckled. "After that though, probably not, just because I don't think I'll want to hassle with brushing it and washing it and all. I'd probably use tons more shampoo than I do now."

"Oh well," Lavender sighed, giving his hair a wistful look. "Too bad. And you said the first year girls did this? That's pretty good charm work."

"Well Marie's mum is apparently a writer for the beauty section at Witch Weekly, so Marie's pretty good with stuff like this," Harry recounted what he'd heard. "Though they're all pretty much rubbish at normal charms and defense spells. Don't know about their other classes."

"How d'you know that?" Ron looked at him curiously.

"I hung out in their room a bit after my hair and all, and worked with them on the disarming spell and levitation charm," Harry dished some food onto his plate, and poured himself some pumpkin juice.

"Now you've really got some explaining to do," Seamus stated, eyebrows raised, and Harry groaned at the truth of that. Why'd he have to open his big mouth?

* * *

A/N: Okay, that's that for chapter ten. Maybe a bit of an odd place to leave it, but I feel like all too often I end chapters with him going to sleep, lol. Though I think other writers can relate- it's just such a convenient stopping point, isn't it? Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed it. If you've read my other stories (go read! Especially "**Love Means Never Having to Time Travel**". I'm almost up to 1,000 reviews, yay!), then you'll probably realise this story's style is slightly different. First off, cause it features Harry as the main character, and I usually use Hermione. Secondly, it's quite a bit slower in some ways. The main reason for that is because I'm really working on showing relationships; how they stand now, and how some develop (or don't develop, poor Susan), and all that. And I'm really trying to work on more conversation and such, cause I think conversations are good for showing the dynamics of a relationship, not to mention it's a lot of fun! And I know some of you feel that's dragging out the story, but I don't, so I'm sorry it annoys you. So review if you're so inclined, I always love them, and stick around for the next chapter coming in a couple of days. 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Not mine, talk to J.K. about that!

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter- you guys are fantastic! A special thanks to **Her Royal Majesty Queen Abigail I of Duct Tape and Boredacea** for the wonderful review. To everyone out there, I apologise for taking so long to get this posted. First I had to contend with exams (I'm a junior in college), and then I went on a two week cruise over Christmas and New Year's with my family. Lastly, but probably the most pressing reason, is writers block. Those who read my stories know I don't use this excuse unless I really mean it. So I've been busy, and stumped :-( sorry! Now without further ado, the next chapter!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Eleven

"So come on Harry, why were you hanging out with the shrimps?" Seamus pressed as they started eating desert.

"We're not shrimps!" Allyn glared at him yet again, walking down the aisle towards them. "Why do you keep calling us that?"

"Cause you are…_shrimp_."

"You're like a dog with a bone about that name," she grumbled, then turned to Harry. "We're all done and ready to go when you are."

"I'm ready now," he wiped his mouth and stood up.

"Where you going Harry?" Ron asked, though it was hard to understanding him as his mouth was stuffed with treacle tart.

"Teaching them what I know of wizard's chess," he grinned. "If there're any prodigies in the bunch, I'll send 'em to you for further teaching."

"We're just going to be surrounded by shrimps, aren't we?" Seamus groaned.

"No, you're going to be surrounded by first years, though _please_ feel free to avoid us," Allyn sighed, rolling her eyes at his stubbornness. "I give up. I'm just going to ignore you; you're just a pain."

"And I'm going to ignore that since I'm sure you forgot that I'm a seventh year who can easily beat you up," Seamus raised his head to look at her with amusement.

"I'd like to see you try, especially with my dorm-mates and Harry helping me," she stared right back at him. He burst out laughing.

"You've got guts _shrimp_, I like that," he grinned, and when she gave an annoyed growl, grinned even wider. "You know Harry, I think I can understand why you hang out with the shrimps, they're a lot of fun to annoy…I mean, _talk_ to."

"Leave her be Seamus," Harry snapped at him, a bit ticked off that Allyn was looking so frustrated by Seamus' constant teasing. "Let's go Lyn."

"Okay Harry," Allyn gave him a grateful smile, and he followed her back up the aisle, not noticing the odd looks his friends were giving him.

"What was up with that?" Seamus looked at them all after Harry was out of the great hall. "I mean, I was teasing her yeah, but nothing mean. Just being annoying more than anything."

"I don't know," Hermione looked just as confused as everyone else. "If it were a student in our year or Ginny's year, or maybe even a fifth year, then I'd hazard a guess that he was jealous of you talking to her; possibly because he likes her."

"But she's just a first year!" Dean exclaimed. "I can't believe that Harry would do that."

"Well I don't think he'd actually do anything, but think about it," Hermione started to explain. "Right now, the six-year difference between them seems quite large. In seven years however, we'll be around twenty five, and the first years will be eighteen, which is perfectly respectable, and doesn't seem to matter nearly as much."

"But she's only eleven right now," Lavender pointed out.

"Well it's perfectly reasonable for Harry to start getting to know her now, and wait till she's fifteen or sixteen to let her know how he feels about her. That way she'll have a year or two to decide how she feels about him, and if she wants to pursue a relationship with him once out of school. I agree that she's only eleven, but it's true that as you get older, age is nothing but a number," Hermione argued. "And as wizards and witches, we'll live twice as long as muggles do, making it even less important."

"And you know," Ron added. "We don't even know that we're right in thinking he likes her. He could just be protective of the first year girls cause he's got Rose. She _has_ brought out his whole paternal instinct. And of course, he's got his whole saving-people thing."

"I agree with Ron," Parvati nodded, resting her chin in her hand as she spoke. "There's no sense in worrying about something we don't even really know about. So let's just not jump to conclusions, and go on as normal till we have something concrete…_if_ we ever have something concrete."

* * *

"Check…and…mate," Jennifer sat back with a satisfied smirk.

"Well that's how you lose," Harry sighed as he slouched on the couch, running a hand through his short-again hair. "I guess I don't have anything to teach you."

"I've competed in some juvenile chess tournaments back home," she grinned, "and won them all. Muggle chess isn't really any different from wizard's chess, except the pieces move themselves."

"So basically you were just setting me up for a good dose of humiliation?"

"Mmm…basically," she smirked before bursting into giggles, as did the others.

"I stand by what I thought before- you should all be in Slytherin."

"How goes the chess?" Ron came up behind them suddenly, causing the girls to jump as they had been in fits of giggles.

"I think Jen could beat you," Harry let his head fall back on the couch so he could look at his friend.

"Not to boast, but I'm one of the best chess players in the school," Ron told her.

"Well I'm one of the best in County Clare, Ireland, juvenile division," she shot back, and Ron grinned, pushing at Harry to move over so he could sit properly across from Jen.

"Hey watch it," Harry playfully shoved him back, but moved to a nearby loveseat all the same.

Harry settled back to watch what was sure to be a good game. His year mates found seats around them and the first year girls, as did a few others in Gryffindor tower. Ron's masterful ability at chess was known throughout the school, and no one had beaten him in a good year. Part of that, of course, was due to the fact that no one had challenged him in that amount of time, having their pride and not wanting to lose…again, in some cases. So a new challenger to face him, and a first year at that, was pretty big deal.

As the game progressed further, and the hour grew later, the first years settled themselves around Harry on the couch. Allyn was on one side, Marie on the other, both tucked under an arm, leaning against him sleepily. Shonda and Ariella were both on the floor, Shonda resting with her back against his legs, and Ariella using Shonda's thigh as a pillow. Rose had been in Harry's lap earlier in the evening, but he'd called Winky to put her in her crib when she'd fallen asleep earlier.

"So who's winning?" Harry asked aloud some time later, to no-one in particular. Both Ron and Jennifer had lost pieces, and similar ones at that, so he didn't really know who was in the lead.

"Ron has the advantage right now," Jennifer answered him, yawning widely, as she waited for Ron to make his move.

"Oh," Harry nodded, and tried to turn around to glance at the clock, but couldn't due to the girls, who were all asleep; or nearly there at any rate. "What time is it?"

"Merlin, it's nearly midnight!" Hermione gasped after looking at the clock; time had flown by, they were all so intrigued with the chess game.

"We'll continue this tomorrow?" Ron asked Jen.

"Definitely," she gave him a smirk, though it was ruined when she yawned again, fighting to keep her eyes open. "I have to beat you after all."

"We'll start after breakfast, my move," Ron cast a shield around the chess board so it wouldn't be disturbed, and leaned back on the couch. "Now that I know what time it is, I find I'm really sleepy."

"It's been a busy day for everyone," Harry pointed out, also stifling a yawn as he glanced at Allyn. "Come on you five, up to bed."

"Not sleepy," Marie mumbled, barely conscious, when he shook her arm a bit.

"Well I am, and I want to go to sleep in my bed, and not on the couch here," he slowly drew his arms away from around their shoulders, and stood up, careful not to disturb Shonda and Ariella.

"Too tired to move," Shonda swatted at his hand as he shook her shoulder.

"All right then," he chuckled and carefully leaned Shonda against the couch before kneeling down to picked up Ariella. She didn't even move as he stood up with her, so deeply asleep was she.

"Want some help Harry?" Ron offered, stretching his arms above his head as the common room started to empty out.

"_Is that all right with you Lady_?" He asked Hogwarts, and receiving an affirmative, nodded to Ron, Dean, and Seamus. "Sure, that'd be great, thanks."

"I'll get this one then," Ron scooped up Jennifer, while Dean got Marie, Neville got Shonda, and Seamus got Allyn.

"I wonder what the shrimp would think if she knew I was the one putting her to bed," Seamus grinned as he followed behind Harry. He paused at the bottom of the stairs though, looking at them apprehensively. "Uh, Harry, mate…what do you want us to do about the stairs?"

"You're fine for this one time," he told them, and continued up them.

Harry almost laughed as seeing the pleased looks on Ron, Dean, and Seamus' faces as they walked up the 'forbidden staircase'. He had no doubt they wouldn't remember the 'one time' part, and try to climb up the next day. At the girls' dorm, Harry managed to get the door open, and held it for them as they filed in. They stood just inside the door as Harry took a moment to remember whose bed was whose, then pointed them out. Setting the girls down, the other four started to leave, but then noticed Harry wasn't with them.

"You coming mate?" Ron asked him, slightly confused as to why he wasn't leaving.

"As soon as I get their shoes off, and them under the covers," he replied softly, pulling off Ariella's shoes. That finished, he lifted her up again while Ron came over and pulled back the covers so he could put her down. The other boys came back in and helped do the same, so that five minutes later, all five girls were tucked in.

"They all asleep?" Hermione asked quietly as the boys sat back down around the dying fire.

"Yeah, we got their shoes off and them tucked in under the covers as well," Ron gave her a kiss before pulling her onto his lap.

"How thoughtful," Lavender smiled as she relaxed against Dean. "It's bad enough having to go to sleep in your clothes, but with shoes on is worse."

"And waking up shivering in the middle of the night isn't fun either," Parvati agreed

"It was Harry's idea," Seamus pointed a finger at Harry. "We were just going to leave 'em on their beds, but Da there went ahead and started pulling off shoes, and getting 'em under the covers and all."

"Well it's very sweet of you to do that," Parvati insisted, talking to all of them.

"Yeah, you're so nice to the first years," Neville grinned at him. "I can't remember anyone being so nice when we were their age."

"Yeah, Fred and George were more likely to prank us then help," Ron grimaced.

"Last year I would've said that you two were just as likely to prank them as well," Hermione laughed lightly.

"Why are you being so nice to them?" Dean asked Harry curiously. "Especially Allyn. I mean, you're nice to all of them, but her especially."

Again, Harry knew this was a perfect opportunity to tell them, but he still couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't know why he felt the hesitancy, other than he didn't want it to become common knowledge around the school by the time breakfast was over, and in turn, the entirety of the wizarding world. Lavender and Parvati were nice girls, but they just couldn't help but gossip like most people couldn't help but breathe. He didn't want Allyn exposed to that type of publicity for as long as he could prevent it. She was still so frail and in need of protection in so many ways.

"Just a paternal instinct I suppose," he shrugged. "Having Rose, I guess I can relate to their parents in a way, and I know that when I send her to Hogwarts, I'll hope she's being taken care of like I'm taking care of them all."

They all digested what Harry had said, no one really having anything to say back to him. Their silence was broken only by the fire popping and crackling as it slowly died out. Only when the grandfather clock in the corner chimed once, letting them know it was twelve thirty, did they make any move to get up. Ron and Dean kissed their respective girlfriends goodnight, then they all made their way to their rooms. Harry bid his friends goodnight before continuing to his room, where he peeked in on Rose before going to bed himself.

* * *

"I'm so excited!" A bright-eyed Hermione sat down in front of Harry. She seemed to be the only one of them who was really awake after their late night.

"And why, my dear Hermione, is that so?" Ron rolled his head around to look at her.

"The electives start tonight, that's why! The acting one right after dinner, and then the chorus one after that, so that means you've got class tonight Harry."

"Yeah, and a nap right after dinner," he nodded tiredly.

Not long after he'd gone to bed, he'd been awakened by Rose fussing and crying. He'd picked her up to rock her, and thought she felt warm. Worried that she was running a fever, he'd taken her to Madam Pomphrey, who said she just had a mild ear infection, which was quite common for babies. She'd given him a small vial of potion to put in her morning bottle, as well as a topical cream to rub on the skin around the ear that would sink in to help dull the pain, allowing Rose, and Harry, to get some sleep finally.

"What's that?"

"Just a potion for Rose's ear infection," Harry answered Lavender as he emptied the purple potion into Rose's milk.

"Ear infection?"

"Yeah, she was fussing a lot last night, and I thought she was running a fever, so I took her to Madam Pomphrey, who diagnosed her with a mild ear infection. Nothing to worry about."

"Oh, well that's good," Lavender smiled, and leaned over to kiss Rose on the top of her head. "We wouldn't want the princess getting sick."

"Definitely not, though I think I was more bothered by it than she was," Harry chuckled, though it was stopped short by a yawn. "I was up the rest of the night just holding her, making sure she didn't get any worse, even though I knew Madam Pomphrey had cured her."

"Oh suck it up," Ron grinned, "you got yourself into that situation."

"Yeah," Seamus chimed in, "what happened, you never got the 'little wizards' talk from someone?"

"I probably got it more than any of you," Harry groaned, "From Remus, from Mr. Weasley, from Bill, and Fred and George, and finally from my friend Lacey."

"Lacey?" Hermione looked confused. "Oh! The lady who helped you with Rose while you stayed at the hotel, right?"

"Yeah."

"Why'd she give you a little wizards talk?" Dean questioned. "That's usually a guy thing."

"She was a prostitute, so she had a good deal of practical experience," Harry laughed as Hermione blanched.

"Harry!"

"I didn't _do_ anything Mione," he laughed, standing up. "Don't worry about me. Worry more about your boyfriend who hasn't done his transfiguration homework."

"Ron!" Hermione immediately turned to Ron and began lecturing him, much to his displeasure. Harry simply laughed and headed to class.

"Wait up Potter," Malfoy's voice called behind him, and Harry stopped, more from surprise than anything.

"Back to surnames already?"

"Only when Allyn and Daphne aren't around," he smirked, and fell in beside Harry as he started walking again.

"So what do you need?"

"Nothing actually, but one of the fourth years was trying to feel me up under the table," Draco sneered in disgust. "So I gave the excuse of needing to ask you something."

"You just wanted to use me?" Harry put on a mock-distressed face. "You wound me Malfoy."

"Lovely," he drawled. "Hey, what electives are you taking?"

"Chorus and business definitely, and possibly the healing and flying ones. How about you?"

"Business, politics, and chorus."

"You sing then?"

"I've had formal lessons for years. Most purebloods have. Dancing too," Draco shrugged. "Why do you want the business class? I figured you to do the dueling."

"Everyone does, since they all expect I'm going into the ministry to become an auror," Harry groaned in frustration. "I plan on opening an orphanage, hence the business course."

"Well if you ever want or need a sponsor, let me know, and I'll be happy to give some money. Not to mention I'll be able to get you a lot of other donations as well. Purebloods are always donating money to charity, and a charity run by _you_ would look even better on their account records."

"Thanks," Harry gave him a smile as they entered the classroom. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

* * *

"Over here Harry!"

"Hello Daphne, Draco," Harry greeted the two of them as he sat down by them, Draco taking Rose with a slight smile. Harry suspected that he was really quite fond of her, even if he wouldn't ever admit it.

"What do you sing Harry?" Daphne asked him as more students continued filing in.

"Tenor, you?"

"Soprano, and Draco sings tenor as well. You two could work out a duet to sing sometime."

"Let's wait and see if Potter's even got any talent singing solo before thinking about a duet," Draco raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, but if he does, then I'm gonna hold you to it," Daphne smirked.

"Whatever Greengrass," Draco huffed, and quieted down as a petite blond woman entered the room.

"Good evening everyone!"

"Good evening," a number of students responded back.

"My name is Nadine Melody, funny, I know," she shared a laugh with them at her name; how apt for a music teacher. "And welcome to the first chorus class."

There was a light smattering of applause at her words, and all the students began giving her their full attention. Even Rose was fairly quiet as she played happily; she was intrigued by Draco's blond hair, and kept grabbing at it.

"First things first, I want to put you into groups, so everybody up!" She waited for them to do so. "Now, to my far left, I was all sopranos please, then altos next to them, tenors next to them, and finally basses on my far right. Before you sit down, think about your range; that is, how high and low you can sing. With in each section, there are ones and twos. An alto one, for example, means you can sing more comfortably the higher notes within your range than the lower ones. So within each section, I want the ones to the right…my right…and the twos on the left. For those who aren't sure where they should go, just pick a section. Now you may take your seats for a minute while I get some information from everyone; please fill out the forms I'm passing out to you."

"I wonder how badly she was teased at the conservatory for her name," Draco snorted.

"Well at least her parents had the good sense not to name her Harmony or some other musical term," Daphne pointed out as she stood up. "See you boys at the end of class."

"Right," Draco nodded, and Harry gave a little wave as she went and sat in the soprano section; soprano one, to be exact. Draco and Harry were already where they needed to be, in the tenor one section.

"All right, thank you for being patient and filling out the information slips," Professor Melody thanked them, smiling. "Now, for the rest of the class, we're going to have each of you sing. Pick a song that you like, and start singing. I'll stop you after about ten, fifteen seconds, as I just want to get an idea of the tone and quality of your voice. We'll do some exercises next class to help me determine your range, and make sure you're where you should be. For those who just picked a section, I'll make some changes and switches as I hear you all. Now, ladies, who'd like to go first?"

"I'll start this thing, show you how it's done," Daphne smirked, raising one elegantly manicured hand.

"All right Miss…?"

"Greengrass."

"All right Miss Greengrass, go ahead, though perhaps with a little less condescension," Professor Melody scolded lightly.

"Confident isn't she?" Harry whispered to Draco as he took back Rose from him; it was time for her bottle.

"She has a right to be, she's a bloody talented soprano," Draco whispered back. "We were all given lessons, but Daphne's one of those who could sing professionally as a career."

Draco spoke quickly, as Daphne stood to sing. From the moment she began, Harry was amazed. Her voice rang clear as she sang some song in Italian, or maybe it was Latin? He was disappointed when Professor Melody stopped her, nodding and smiling as she jotted some notes down on a piece of parchment.

"I see what you mean," Harry turned back to Draco as Professor Melody moved on to the next girl.

"Yeah, she's a shoo-in for any solos we may have in here. Or duets with me as well," Draco looked thoughtful. Harry opened his mouth to say something, but got cut off. "And no, I'm not being a snob when I say that. I'm just as talented in my own right. Daphne and I used to sing duets all the time at various get-togethers."

"All right, all right, I believe you," Harry chuckled, keeping his voice low. Professor Melody was making her way through the sopranos, some singing for short bits of time, others for longer. Harry was surprised that no one was really terrible. Some had some problems singing in tune, and a few of them he thought would make better altos, but overall they were decent singers. All together, there were probably about seventy or eighty kids there, a good number of them Slytherins, Harry noted to himself.

"Well of course you do," Draco smirked.

"Hey," Harry said suddenly, their bantering making him think of something. "Does it seem weird to you that we've been getting along so well?"

"Well we did say we'd try to get along and be friends, if only for Daphne and Allyn's sake," Draco lazily rolled his head around to look at Harry. "And besides, we probably would've been friends from the beginning if I hadn't been such a perfect miniature of my father."

"Yeah, good point."

"Of course it was. I am a Malfoy."

"Well that just ruined your whole _I'm not like my father_ spiel," Harry laughed, and Draco joined in.

"Something funny gentlemen?" Professor Melody stood in front of them.

"Never Professor," Draco stood smoothly, took her hand, and bowed over it. "Draco Malfoy, tenor one."

"Charmed Mr. Malfoy," she raised an eyebrow at his propriety. "Now, if you would be so kind as to sing please."

"Anything for you Professor," he gave her a charming smile, and cleared his throat before launching into a song that was, if Harry wasn't mistaken, French.

"_I should learn French_," he thought to himself as he listened to Draco sing; he was really good as well, he hadn't been bragging.

"Mr. Potter?"

"Huh? Sorry," he broke out of his thoughts at the teacher's voice. Draco had finished and sat back down.

"That's all right, now if you'd sing something for me please," she nodded at him.

"Sure," he stood up after passing Rose to Draco, his hands in his pockets, and sang a bit of a song he'd heard on the wizarding wireless and liked a lot. The professor listened intently for a few moments, then waved her hand for him to stop, and moved on to the next boy as he sat back down.

"Not too bad Potter," Draco said approvingly. "Some practice with Daphne and me, and we might actually get you up to our caliber."

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes dryly as he took his daughter back. "But who says I want to practice with you and Daphne at all?"

"I do, and I get what I want, so there," Draco smirked, then started laughing, as did Harry.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey, what's up everyone?! It's another chapter, and on schedule too! If at all possible, chapters will be out weekly, but it's **more likely** that they'll be out **bi-weekly** instead as I get settled into the routine of things at school. Once again, a special thanks to the **Queen of Duct Tape**, who is quite possibly, the most fantastic reviewer in the universe :-D Her reviews are guaranteed to amuse and delight. Also, this is kinda random, but I was re-reading my story online, and I realized that not all of chapter 5 had been uploaded. Or maybe it had and it just wasn't showing up for me. But either way, I re-uploaded chapter 5, so you may want to go look- it doesn't have an effect on anything. Anyways, enough of that, here's the next chappie, and once again, thanks for the reviews!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Twelve

Harry walked into the great hall to grab an apple before heading to the music room to meet Daphne and Draco. His plans were interrupted however, by five shrieking girls tackling him in a hug, just inside the doorway.

"Hey now, what's all the fuss?" He laughed as he steadied himself with a hand on the doorframe.

Ariella giggled. "We wanted to say thank you!"

"Yeah," Shonda chimed in. "Professor Flitwick was impressed by how much we've improved that he gave us 25 house points total!"

"So will you eat lunch with us today?" Marie looked up at him pleadingly.

"I'd love to, but I'm meeting Daphne and Malf- all right," he amended at Allyn's look. "_Draco_, to work on some scales and singing stuff."

"Oh, okay," Marie nodded. "But we'll see you for dinner?"

"Of course," he grinned, lightly chucking her chin. "Now, would you guys mind letting go of me?"

"Sorry," they all chimed, and let go of him before dashing back to Gryffindor table. Harry followed them calmly, grabbed an apple from the table, waved to his friends, and turned right back around and left.

"Where's he going?" Ron asked to no one in particular.

"Singing practice with Draco and Daphne," Allyn answered.

"He's really into the singing thing, isn't he?" Dean looked thoughtful. "I wonder how good he is. I know the rumours going around are that he's pretty good, but again, they're just rumours."

"Well we'll be able to hear him sing at the winter showcase at any rate," Seamus shrugged.

"Winter showcase?" Lavender looked at him curiously.

"Yeah, all the performance type of groups will be putting on a show for the school, and family and friends to see. The theatre group, dancers, musicians, and singers will all have a number of acts to show off what they've learned. I think my professor's going to talk to yours about having all the fashion students work on the costumes, and the art students do scenery."

"Oooh!" Lavender and Pavarti squealed excitedly, and immediately began discussing ideas for costumes; never mind the fact that they didn't know what the theme of the showcase might be, or what the different groups were planning. Many didn't even know about it, as some hadn't had their elective classes yet.

* * *

"Took you long enough Potter," Draco drawled from his seat at the piano. Daphne was standing next to him, one hand splayed over her lower rib-cage, and the other at her back.

"Had to grab some food so I won't starve," he held up the apple core for them to see.

"We're going to have Dobby bring us some snacks after we finish," Daphne chided him lightly.

"I was hungry," he nearly whined as he vanished the core.

"I understand that, but some types of food and drink aren't good for your vocal cords, like milk or chocolate," she informed him. "Now come on, lets do a few warm-up exercises, and then we'll move on to the scales from class."

"Sure, but what were you doing when I walked in?"

"Breathing exercises, which we'll teach you also in a bit. All of these things will help you improve your singing control; tone, pitch, intonation, and overall sound and range."

The following hour was, in all honesty, one of the hardest for Harry. Sure he'd sung along with the wireless, and to Rose, but that was without having to do the technical stuff. This was like singing bootcamp; the musical equivalent of all the training he'd done in preparation for the fight against Voldemort. Throughout the forty-five minutes, Daphne would guide him through some of the exercises while Draco accompanied them on the piano, and then they'd switch. This was so Harry could sing along with Draco, and learn how to stay on key.

"Are we done yet?" Harry said with some difficulty as they finished the last of the breathing exercises. Never had he thought breathing could be so tough, or that they're were rules for how to breathe when singing.

"Yeah, yeah, call for Dobby," Draco rolled his eyes as he sat back down at the piano as Harry called for Dobby and told him to bring a sample of food for them.

"Play me a tune Dray," Daphne sighed whimsically as she hopped up onto the piano.

"Of course love," he chuckled, and launched into a melodic piece. A few bars in, Daphne grinned, sat up straight, and began singing in her clear soprano, a song he was familiar with called 'The Prayer.' Harry found himself captivated by her voice; he'd heard her sing before in chorus class, but she really put her heart into this song, not to mention she'd been doing the warm-ups for the better part of an hour. And when Draco joined in, singing the male counterpart and harmony, Harry was just floored. They were both extremely talented separately, but together, they were phenomenal!

"Wow," Harry just stared once they finished. "That was just…I don't think I can even describe it."

"We'll take that as a compliment," Daphne laughed as Draco put his hands on her hips, and lifted her down.

"Next lesson, we're going to work on that song with you," Draco smirked. "First though, we need you to learn Latin, Italian, French, and Spanish. A lot of the great classical songs are in those languages, so you need to learn them."

"And how am I supposed to do that?!" Harry looked panicked. He was hardly an expert in the English language; how was he supposed to learn _four _others?

"Simple Harry," Daphne said as she walked over to him. "Draco's going to transfer the information to you using a technique that's somewhat like legilimency. He'll connect his mind with yours, and for lack of a better explanation, copy his knowledge of the languages, including how to speak it, understand it, and read and write it, and transfer it to you. He and I are both fluent in all of them, but he has a better accent for them then I do."

"Now, hold still Potter," Draco said as he grasped Harry's face in his hands and locked eyes with him. Harry felt a…wave…go through his brain for a couple minutes, and then Draco was pulling back.

"You know," Daphne got a mischievous look on her face. "If someone had walked in on you doing that, they would've thought you two were getting ready to snog."

"Oh Merlin, Daphne!" Draco quickly backed up, looking ill. "Please, you'll make me sick, and I haven't even eaten yet."

"Well I'm so sorry," she rolled her eyes and sauntered over to them, and linked her arms through theirs as they left the music room, Draco grabbing half a sandwich to munch on as they walked to charms. They walked in silence for a few moments, until Draco broke the silence by asking Daphne to give a review of what they'd done in their last charms class. Daphne launched into an explanation…in French. Even though he knew that he'd been given the knowledge of how to speak French and all, it was another matter entirely to hear himself speak it out loud as he joined in the conversation.

"Harry!" Hermione waved him over as he, Daphne, and Draco entered the classroom.

"I'll see you guys later?"

"I'll be busy doing work, and the cooking class this evening," Daphne shook her head. "But Draco's taking the business class, so you'll see him."

"All right, tomorrow then?"

"Sure, we'll have another practice tomorrow after lunch during free period," Daphne smiled, and went to sit with by Blaise.

"Potter," Draco nodded to him, and went to join Daphne. Harry went to join Ron and Hermione, and as he sat down, Winky appeared a moment later informing him that Rose was sleeping.

"Harry…" Hermione said slowly, looking at him curiously.

"Hermione…" he mimicked her.

"Were you speaking in French when you walked in?" She asked him in French.

"Yes, I was," he answered, also in French.

"And when did you learn French?"

"I don't know," he looked at his watch. "Roughly ten minutes ago?"

"How?!"

"Malfoy- he did some sort of information transfer, mind-to-mind, kind of like legilimency. I also now know Spanish, Latin, and Italian. It'll help me with singing, since a lot of songs are in those languages. Or so Daphne says. Either way, doesn't matter much to me."

"Hey, you guys want to switch to English?" Poor Ron looked completely confused by their conversation, as he didn't speak a bit of French.

"Sorry mate," Harry apologized, and turned his attention to Professor Flitwick who was walking in.

* * *

"Malfoy, wait up!"

"What Potter?" Draco paused for a moment before continuing to walk.

"I thought we'd head to the business course together," Harry answered as he fell into step beside Draco.

"Let me take her," Draco offered, and reached over and took Rose from the harness without waiting for an answer. "Hello beautiful."

"Everyone's going to think you've turned into a Hufflepuff if they see you like this."

"As if that's possible," Draco said haughtily.

"Why are you taking this course anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you have advisors, and bankers, and attorneys to handle all of that for you?"

"I have one account manager at Gringotts, and that's it. There were a few others, but they were all…associates…of my fathers," Draco gave him a significant look. "I'm sure you get my meaning."

"Yeah, loud and clear."

"So obviously, after the war, I had to fire them all. And besides, I want to take a more active role in Malfoy Incorporated. I don't want to just let everyone else handle everything, because this company represents who I am publicly, and if the company does poorly, then if reflects badly on me. My family's reputation is already besmirched thanks to my father, so I need to do everything in my power to reverse that. Which is why funding your orphanage will be a good thing. If I align myself with you, people will think I can't be that bad, since you're the 'boy-who-lived-to-defeat-the-dark-tosser'."

"Is that the only reason you deign to be seen with me?" Harry raised an eyebrow in question as they entered the classroom.

"No. I like Rose," Draco said matter-of-factly, a smirk on his face.

"And Daphne makes you as well," Harry added with a grin.

"The bane of my existence," he gave a dramatic sigh.

"You know you love her anyways."

"As a sister. Nothing more than that. We tried the whole relationship thing a couple years ago at our parents' request, but neither of us had any romantic feelings toward one another."

"I wondered. You two are always flirty with each other."

"Jealous Potter?" Draco shot him a sideways look. "You could always try, I wouldn't be surprised if she likes you. Or rather, that she _could_ like you if you'd make a move."

"I think if she wanted to date me, then she'd let me know. You should know better than anyone that she's not shy."

"No, but she was still raised as a pureblood woman; you wait for the man to initiate the courting. There are specific guidelines purebloods are taught to follow when courting. I've got an extra copy of the book somewhere that you can have."

"I'm not interested in dating," Harry was quick to say.

"I didn't necessarily mean in regards to Daphne," Draco rolled his eyes. "In general, if you're a wizard, you should have a basic idea of these customs. They're not followed so strictly like they were several hundred years ago, but almost all wizarding families, pureblood or otherwise, follow some of them to some degree."

"Oh," Harry coloured, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Draco just chuckled, and rifled through the diaper bag for a bottle as Rose started fussing. The two boys sat in a companionable silence while they waited for the instructor to show up. More students continued to file in, though not too many. Apparently, not many students were interested in owning and managing their own businesses. Precisely as the clock chimed eight o'clock, a goblin stepped through the door.

"Greetings students," he gave them a smile that was rather creepy looking. "My name is Griphook, and I am a head teller at Gringotts. My qualifications for teaching are a financial mastery from the Tropluck Institution, as well as being a teller at Gringotts for forty-three years. Now, first things first, a roll-sheet will be passed around; please sign your names. This will allow me to know how many of you there are, as well as _who_ you are. Some of you will have estates you need to learn how to manage," Griphook glanced at Draco and Harry. "And I can give you your actual portfolio to work on and learn and to manage. Those who don't have an actual portfolio will be given a fictitious one to manage. Any questions?"

Harry raised his hand. "If we're planning on starting a business, will we learn how to do that in theory, or will we have the chance to actually begin the process of starting a business and getting it off the ground and running?"

"If you have the means to start a business, then yes, you will be able to actually start it in this class. If you do not have the financial means to do so, you may start a fictitious one instead."

After answering a few more questions, Griphook dismissed the class. The only homework he gave was for them to read over their portfolios, which they would receive via owl by dinner the next day, at the latest. Before they could begin to learn how to handle their estates, they needed to become familiar with them; what stock or property they owned, what investments they had, any money that was being made off of said investments, and so on.

* * *

"Peace and quiet," Harry muttered to himself as he sank into a chair in front of the fireplace after business class. None of his year-mates were there, and not too many other Gryffindors either; just a few fourth years in one corner, and some second years playing gobstones in another area.

"Harry!"

"I spoke too soon," he muttered as he shifted Rose to his other arm, and opened his eyes to see his year mates filing in. They'd all had an elective class in the second evening slot, while his had been directly after dinner. It wasn't that he didn't want to see his friends, but he'd been enjoying the calm atmosphere of the common room, sitting in front of the fire. His friends settled themselves in the chairs around him as he asked, "So how were classes?"

"Oh it was so fascinating!" Hermione immediately spoke. "There's just so much more to healing than I ever knew! And it incorporates elements from all the fields of magic, so if I chose to study it in college, I'd still be learning more about charms, potions, herbology, and transfiguration, in addition to healing itself!"

"I think he gets the point Mione," Ron rolled his eyes as he made to cover Hermione's mouth with his hand. "The politics class was kinda dry, but Percy's teaching it, so I guess I'm not surprised."

"Percy's teaching it?"

"Yeah, and I have to call him Professor," Ron rolled his eyes as Harry laughed.

"How about you guys?" He looked to his other year-mates.

"Fashion was really interesting," Lavender smiled brightly, but luckily for Harry, she didn't elaborate.

"How was…business, right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, and it was good," Harry nodded. "I think I'm gonna really learn a lot, and hopefully get my business started."

"Well that's good. Hey, where do you suppose you'll set up your orphanage?" Pavarti asked.

"I don't know," he frowned. "I haven't thought too much about it. I've got a couple of options I suppose though. I can either buy some land and build one, or take over a current one and improve it, or buy a couple of houses or something and turn them into smaller-scale orphanages or something. I might even looking into building a small complex with dorms and a primary school, and other stuff. I don't really know. Guess I figure it out once I start looking at my financial portfolio."

At that moment, a tapping was heard at one of the windows in the common room. One of the fourth years opened it, and a screech owl flew in, over to Harry, and dropped a rather thick envelope in his lap before flying back out the window. Harry looked at it in confusion, and it took him a few moments to process that it had Gringotts' seal on it.

"What's that?" Neville asked, startling them all. He stood at the edge of the group, looking rather dirty, as he'd just come from one of the greenhouses, no doubt. If you needed to find Neville, you had only to look as far as one of the greenhouses.

"Oh hey Neville," Harry greeted him. "I'm assuming it's my financial portfolio, for my business and financial class. Griphook, that's the instructor, said we'd get them by dinner tomorrow at the latest."

"So that's going to tell you just how much you're worth to the world, huh?" Lavender said teasingly.

"I guess that's one way of putting it," Harry laughed. "I'm gonna head to my room. I need to start looking over all of this before the next class, and judging from this packet, I'm going to have a lot."

His friends bid him good-night, and he made his way to his room, Rose in one arm, and his portfolio in the other. Harry threw the portfolio on his bed, and walked into Rose's room, where he gave her a bottle, changed her nappy, and put her in her pyjammas. That done, he sat down in the rocking chair, and rocked her to sleep, singing her lullabys that he'd learned from his Aunt. After she'd been sleeping for a good ten minutes, he transferred her to her crib and covered her with a blanket. Stretching his arms above his head, he headed back into his room, and changed into his own night-clothes. Grabbing the envelope, he got comfortable and opened it up, and began looking through it.

"Whoa," he let out a soft exclamation of surprise as he looked at the first page, which listed his net worth. He had, of course, known that he would never have to worry about his finances; his parents, and Sirius, had made sure of that with all the family inheritance he had received access to upon turning seventeen. His father had been an only child, and thus had received a large inheritance from his parents, while his mum had received a fair amount as well. His parents had invested some of that money well, and those investments had continued to produce income over the years. Combine that with the fact that the money had sat in vaults at Gringotts collecting interest, and he was even wealthier than he'd imagined. He had roughly two hundred million galleons total, and that didn't include the properties he owned, which consisted of number twelve Grimmauld place, the former Potter estate in Godric's Hollow, a large portion of acreage about five miles outside of Hogsmede, and a small manor in Ireland.

"Looks like I'll be able to easily afford the orphanage, several of 'em if I want," he grinned, happy. Deciding to finish looking over everything in the morning, he closed the portfolio, set it on his nightstand with his glasses, and turned off the light.

* * *

"What's that?" Ron asked as he sat down across from him at breakfast.

"Just my portfolio from Gringotts," Harry answered, and focused his attention back on the papers in front of him; he was looking over the Potter family investments and stock listings. It was quite early, and no one else was in the Great Hall yet; food hadn't even been set out yet, but Winky had been able to get a pot of coffee and a mug for him. Rose had woken him up for a five o'clock feeding, and he'd just decided to go ahead and get up.

"Oh," Ron nodded dumbly, barely awake. Harry fought back a laugh as he saw Ron just sit there, looking like a zombie.

"What are you doing up so early anyways?"

"Early? I thought it was time to get up?"

"Nope, sorry mate, it's only half past five."

"But my alarm went off," Ron looked extremely confused, then started frowning. "Ooh, that Irishman. He was acting funny last night, and kept sniggering at me."

"Just go back to sleep," Harry chuckled. "You've got a good two hours more before you'll be wanting to eat."

Ron didn't appear to really be listening; he just stood up and headed for the door, muttering nonstop about 'Seamus the Irish-bloody-wanker'. Harry gave another chuckle, and turned his attention back to the portfolio to finish looking at the Potter family investments. It wasn't long before a brushing noise interrupted his reading, and he looked around to see Duchess slithering in.

"**Your daughter needs you**," she hissed.

"**What do you mean? Rose is right here**," Harry looked down at Rose, and then at Duchess, confused.

"**Your adopted daughter then**," Duchess would've rolled her eyes if it were possible.

"**What's wrong**?" Harry immediately stood up, grabbed his portfolio, and headed for Gryffindor Tower at a fast walk.

"**Well I don't know. Hogwarts just told me to get you**."

Harry cursed, in parseltounge, and picked up the pace to Gryffindor Tower. He entered the common room, called Winky and gave Rose to her, and ran up to the first year's girl dormitory. Inside, all the other girls were awake, and crowded around the bathroom door, calling for Allyn to come out. He looked around to see if anything looked out of place, and noticed blood on Allyn's bed.

"Why do I get the feeling this is not something I want to deal with?" He groaned, guessing where the blood might've come from. The others heard him and turned around.

"Harry, she's not coming out, and she's not talking to us, and we don't know how to open the door," Ariella blurted everything out in one breath.

"It's all right girls," he soothed them, as they were all worried and slightly panicked looking. "Just give me a bit of space, and I'll talk to her."

"Okay," they nodded, and moved to Shonda's bed, sitting together.

"Allyn," he called through the door.

"Go away!"

"Allyn Louise Williams-Potter, I am not going away, so either make sure you're decent and let me in, or I will unlock this door myself," he warned her. "You do not want me to unlock this door myself or there will be consequences."

There was no reply, but the lock clicked open a moment later. Harry slowly opened the door, and felt his heart twinge when he saw her. She was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, and knees pulled up against her chest. She was just wearing a nightgown, and her face was streaked with tears. She didn't look up at him, or even acknowledge that he was there.

"What's wrong Lyn?" Harry kept his tone soft as he sat down next to her.

"Nothing's wrong!" She cried. "I'm just being stupid. It's nothing."

"Well it's obviously something if it's got you in tears and locking yourself in the bathroom," he lightly grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "You can talk to me, love."

"I went to be kind of early last night because my stomach was hurting," Allyn finally started to explain a few minutes later. "I woke up this morning, and there was blood on the bed. At the orphanage they talk to all girls ten and older about…periods…and all that, so of course I knew about it. But I didn't think I was going to have them so soon, and I panicked, and didn't really know what to do, and oh this is so embarrassing!" She dropped her head into her hands and started crying again.

"Shh, it's okay," Harry pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth till she calmed down. "Feeling better now?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"You feeling okay enough for me to go get my friend Hermione? She'll be able to help you, and tell you what you need to do for your…period," Harry felt himself blushing; he did not want to be having this conversation! He could only imagine what would happen when it came time for Allyn to need a bra. He would definitely need to enlist Mrs. Weasley for that.

"Yeah," Allyn nodded again.

"All right, I'll be back in a couple minutes then," Harry smiled, and stood up after shifting her off his lap and back onto the ground.

"Is she okay?!" The other girls asked as soon as he came out. He held up a hand to stall them, and called for Dobby to come grab the soiled sheets on Allyn's bed, and replace them with clean ones. That done, he turned back to the girls.

"She's fine, I'm just going to go get Hermione, the Head Girl, to come talk to her and help her out," Harry assured them, and left the dorm and headed up the staircase to Hermione's room. He knocked, and wasn't surprised when the door opened almost immediately, revealing Hermione, already dressed for the day.

"Harry!" She looked both shocked and confused as to why he was there.

"Hey Hermione," he grinned. "Listen, I need your help with one of the first year girls, Allyn. She's started her period, and is kind of panicked about it. Will you come talk to her please?"

"Well of course. But tell me, how'd you get involved with the situation?" She asked him as she closed her door, and followed him down the stairs.

"Allyn's my adopted daughter, another stray if you will," Harry laughed at the look of surprise that crossed Hermione's face.

"And you're just telling me now?"

"Yeah, I know, I should've told you guys earlier," he sighed. "I don't know why I didn't. I guess I just wanted time for both her and I to adjust to the new relationship without having to deal with Hogwarts, and the rest of the world butting in."

"It's fine Harry, I understand," she nodded. Ever since it'd gotten out that 'The-boy-who-defeated-Voldemort' was a father, he'd been getting hundreds of daily letters, and requests for interviews, and pictures of Rose, and so on.

"Thanks," he gave her a smile as they came to the landing where the first-year dorm was.

"I'm glad you finally told me. This explains all the times we've seen you two together. We were wondering if you were developing romantic feelings for her," Hermione laughed as she walked into the room.

Harry stopped mid-step when she said that, shocked beyond belief. He'd never have guessed they thought that about him and Allyn. Well, he'd definitely have to tell his friends now. Shaking his head to clear it, he entered the dorm, and was mobbed by the other four girls, who were still worried, and just looking for a little comfort. So Harry was pulled onto Shonda's bed, and the girls gathered around him while they waited for Hermione and Allyn. It wasn't too much longer before they came out, Allyn looking better, though still embarrassed. The other girls made room for her, and she climbed up on the bed to join them, curling up against Harry's side with his arm around her.

"Oh that's such a cute picture," Hermione chuckled, and pulled out her wand, and _accioed_ Harry's camera, and took a picture of them. "You know, you should get a family picture done some time, of you and your daughters, or even of just them. They're going to grow up before you know it."

"I know, and it's on my list of things to do over the winter break," he nodded, while fighting back a yawn. He looked at the girls around him. "All right you lot, you all need to get moving, cause I'm getting sleepy just lying here, and if I don't get moving soon, I'll fall asleep."

"Good idea," Marie giggled.

"No, not a good idea, cause I have class at nine."

"Well you can sleep till eight, and then get up for breakfast," Ariella pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'd better do that in my own room if I'm going to," he shook his head when they pleaded for him to stay. "You guys know as well as I do that I shouldn't really be here. Guys aren't supposed to be in the girls' dorms. I'll see you guys down at breakfast though."

"All right," they nodded, and got up and went to their own beds. Hermione watched the whole scene, amused.

"I'll see you at breakfast Harry."

"Yeah, and thanks again Mione," he gave her a quick hug, and she left.

"Thanks Papa," said Allyn as she walked with him to the doorway.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," he kneeled down to her level, and she slid her arms around his neck, hugging him. Harry pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"I love you," she said shyly, looking down at her feet.

"I love you too, Lyn," he managed to say back, his voice rough; he'd never had anyone say that to him before that he could remember. Harry pulled Allyn in for another hug as he got his emotions back under control. "Hey, how about you and I have lunch together today? I'll have someone watch Rose, and it'll just be the two of us."

"I'd like that."

"Good. Then I'll meet you in the entrance hall at the beginning of lunch," Harry informed her, and with a last smile, stood and left their dorm, and headed to his own room. Another hour of sleep wasn't sounding like a bad idea at the moment.

* * *

A/N: Okie doke, that's it for the chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it. Some moments with our favourite Slytherins, and then I threw in the thing at the end because I just thought that would be funny. It actually happened to my best friend, Michael- He was babysitting for this family, and they had a twelve year old daughter. Well, she went to the bathroom, and found blood in her underwear, and of course, panicked. Michael called me, and I had to explain to the girl what it was- she knew, but like a lot of girls' first times, panicked a bit. So yeah, I thought I'd throw that in, add some humor. If you liked it, I'd love to hear from you, and hopefully the next chapter will be up in two weeks. 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks soooo much for the reviews- I'm glad you all liked it. Sorry this is late- school is really stressing me out this semester, and I've got a lot on my plate at the moment. But thank you for being patient and sticking with me! This chapter dedicated to **ExcessivelyPerky**- OMG, I was laughing so hard at your review- it totally made my WEEK! Oh, and to the couple of people who asked, yes, really, milk and chocolate are not great for your vocal cords right before you sing- dairy products tighten your vocal cords I believe- not a hundred percent sure exactly, but I _do_ know they're not good for you. Now without further ado, the next chapter!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Thirteen

"Morning Mione," Harry greeted as he sat down across from her at breakfast.

"Good morning, again. How's Allyn doing?"

"The shrimp?" Seamus perked up at the mention of the first year; he loved to know what was going on with them, especially Allyn, so he could tease them.

"Yes, and first, I better explain to all of you that she's my adopted daughter. Not a love interest, or anything like that. So _please_, keep it quiet," he gave Lavender and Parvati a significant look.

"We wouldn't tell," Lavender frowned.

"Not on purpose," he conceded. "But you have to admit that there are times when you two just get chatting and let things slip accidentally."

"Well we won't on this," Parvati promised.

"Thanks," he nodded, not sure whether or not they'd actually be able, but content at least that they would try. "Anyways, Duchess came down this morning when I was in the great hall and told me that Allyn needed me. So of course I ran up there, and she had locked herself in the bathroom. Apparently, she started her period, and was a little freaked out, and just not sure how to deal with it all. So I went and got Hermione to talk to her, end of story."

"Poor thing," Dean shook his head.

"Yeah, I know," Harry nodded his head in agreement.

"He meant you," Seamus joked. "Having to deal with a girl, and her monthlies, all of which is no man's land."

"Well I'm going to have to. At least when Rose gets to that age, I'll have Lyn around to help."

"You might have a step-mum for Rose by that point," Ron pointed out around a mouthful of eggs.

"He's right, you never know Harry. And let's say Rose starts her monthlies around the age of twelve; Lyn would be about twenty three. She might not live at home with you at that point," Hermione added.

"Well she'd only be a floo call away at any rate," Harry argued stubbornly. "I'll agree that I don't know if I'll get married, but I'm not counting on it. And can we get off the topic of monthlies please?"

"Please!" Seamus, Dean, Neville, and Ron all agreed simultaneously, then began talking about quidditch.

Morning classes passed quickly, if somewhat dully. Harry, if all truth be told, wasn't really paying attention. The whole incident that morning had given him some things to think about. He'd been lucky that it hadn't been just him there to deal with it; he'd had Hermione to go to. What if they'd been at home when Allyn first started her period? He would've panicked! Not if front of Allyn, cause that would've just made things worse for her, but in private he definitely would. If they'd been at home, he would've had to go buy…horror of all horrors…pads or tampons for her. How did you even know what to get? He'd gone to the supermarket with Aunt Petunia when he was younger (he always pushed the cart, and loaded and unloaded the groceries), and she'd had to pick some up. He'd been mortified at having to go down that aisle, and stand there for a few seconds while she found the type she'd needed. He'd done his best to forget that whole experience, but now it was all coming back, and he could just remember seeing a whole _wall_ of different types of feminine products. So he would have no idea where to even start if he had to buy them for Allyn.

"Hey Mione," he stopped her as they left their last class of the morning.

"Yes Harry?" she followed him off to the side.

"I just wanted to say thanks again for helping Allyn."

"Oh it was no problem Harry, it's part of my job as Head Girl anyways."

"Yeah, but still," he shrugged. "And secondly, what do I do in the future when it happens again?"

"Well I've taught her what she'll need to know while at school," Hermione turned on her know-it-all tone-of-voice, which Harry was thankful for; less embarrassing for him. "During the summer however, I'd just recommend taking her to the supermarket with you, and have her go find what she needs. That way you'll be spared from dealing with it," she gave him a sympathetic look.

"Great, great, that's perfect," Harry nodded happily as they started walking towards the great hall for lunch. "I have another question, though I feel kind of bad bombarding you with all this, cause it's embarrassing."

"Don't Harry, because I don't mind. And really, who else would you go to? Molly's wonderful, but I think that would be worse for you, and I can't see you going to Professor McGonagall or Madam Pomfrey about sanitary products," Hermione giggled as Harry paled, and shook his head emphatically. "And your friendship with Daphne is too new for you to ask her. So, as your best female friend, I'm happy to help out. What do you need to know?"

"Bras," was all Harry said, blushing.

"I thought that'd be it," she nodded, a twinkle in her eye as she held back a giggle. "She's so thin and petite, she really hasn't had to worry, and may not for a bit. Next Hogsmede trip, you can give me some money and I'll go pick up a couple of training bras for her. That should be enough for now. I'll keep an eye on her, and do the same thing in the future while we're at school. During the summer though, you'll have to talk to her though, and tell her to let you know when she needs things. Then you can owl me and we'll meet up somewhere for a couple of hours and I'll take her shopping."

"I like that plan," he sighed in relief.

"Of course you do, I thought of it didn't I?"

"Yeah, and I like all your plans; they're probably the reason Ron and I never got expelled from school," Harry chuckled. "Thanks Mione. I really needed to talk about this."

"I'm glad you trust me enough to come to me about it," she linked her arm through his and kissed his cheek as they entered the great hall.

"Oy, get your hands off my girlfriend," Ron yelled out as they neared Gryffindor table.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Harry slid an arm around Hermione's waist, pretending to be possessive.

"I shall duel you to the death!" Ron jumped up and drew his wand; Harry did the same.

"One, two, three!" Harry counted off, and on three, they both shot bursts of flower petals from their wands at each other, to the delight of the girls at the table near them.

"Ha, take that!" Ron shot a particularly large bunch of petals at Harry's face.

"I've been wounded," he dramatically grabbed at his face, and fell to his knees. "You have defeated me! The woman is yours!"

"My hero," Hermione giggled as Ron took her hand and pulled her close to him, dipped her, and kissed her soundly, eliciting cat calls, whistles, and cheering from those around them.

"Well I know when I'm not wanted," Harry put on a mock affronted look, and stood up. "I'll see you guys later."

"Oh you don't have to leave Harry, we're sorry," Hermione apologised once she was back upright, and recovered from the kiss that had left her slightly breathless.

"I'm not leaving because of that," Harry pointed to the entrance where a laughing Allyn stood. "I've got a lunch date to go to. So I'll see you guys later."

"So where are we going?" Allyn looked at him, excitement making her eyes light up.

"Well, since it's a nice fall day, I thought we'd enjoy a picnic by the lake, if that's okay with you?" Harry looked down at her, and laughed when she nodded her head eagerly.

They made their way down to the lake in silence, but it was a comfortable one. At the lake's edge, Harry gave Allyn a wink, snapped his fingers, and Dobby appeared and set a basket down with a wave before disappearing again. Harry spread out the stereotypical red and white checkered picnic blanket, and flopped down on it with a grin. Allyn sat down beside him, though in a much more lady-like fashion, and opened up the basket.

"Wow," she gasped as she looked in. "There's too much; there's enough food here to feed all of Gryffindor!"

"Yeah," Harry chuckled after glancing in. "Dobby tends to go overboard with things like this. Though the Weasley boys loved it; I don't think they would ever think there was such a thing as too much food."

"They sound funny, from what I've heard about them in the tower. I'd like to meet them, or go to their shop and get some of their pranks."

"You know I'm a partner in their store? I gave them the money to start the shop," Harry informed her as he started pulling out food and eating utensils.

"Really!? That's so cool! Now we definitely have to go!"

"All right, we'll do that over winter break then at some point."

"What do you usually do for Christmas?"

"Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mum, usually invites me to spend the holidays with her family. So if you like, we can go there for Christmas, or we can just have a quiet family celebration with Rose. It's up to you."

"Do I have to decide now?"

"Course not," Harry shook his head, and took a bite of some potato salad. "We've got a couple months till we need to think about it. It's only the middle of September."

"It seems like it's so much later, so much has happened," Allyn looked thoughtful. "I got you, and a sister, and friends now, and school, and, and…everything!"

"How are your classes going?" Harry couldn't help but go into 'parent mode'.

"Okay," Allyn looked down.

"Allyn…"

"I'm having trouble in transfiguration," she admitted, not looking at him. "I just don't get it!"

"What about the rest of your classes?"

"Charms and herbology are all right. Defense is good too. Potions is my favourite, and really, really, easy. Professor Snape says I have the potential to be a Potions Mistress someday if I work hard and want to. Though he told me not to tell anyone he said that."

"Well have you talked to Professor McGonagall about your problems?" Harry focused on the task at hand, though he found it funny that potions was her favourite class.

"No," Allyn shook her head. "She's kinda scary. And she always seems so busy."

"I understand that," Harry said patiently. "But if you're having trouble, it's her job to help you. Or you can come to me and let me know, so I can help. That's my job as a parent."

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Harry bumped her arm lightly. "I'm the one who should be sorry. It's my job as your Papa to keep an eye on you. But I'm new at this, so you're going to have to help me as we go along. Think you can do that?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, smiling.

"Good. Now, let's finish eating, cause we don't have too much time left before we need to get back inside and grab our things for class. And I'll talk to Professor McGonagall later about what you need to work on, all right?"

Allyn nodded again, but didn't say anything as she'd just taken a large bite of her sandwich. Harry grinned, and joined her in eating. Their eating was occasionally interrupted by a few bits of conversation, but for the most part they ate in content silence. When they did finish, Dobby appeared, grabbed the basket and blanket, and disappeared again after Harry thanked him. Harry reached a hand out to Allyn, and they began the walk back up to the castle.

"Hey Papa?"

"Yes Allyn?"

"Are you going to the Halloween ball?"

"Yeah, unless I hurt myself and wind up in the hospital wing, which I seem to have a habit of doing," he laughed.

"No, I meant are you going with a date?"

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it too much. I'll be taking Rose with me however."

"Oh, okay," she was quiet for a moment, but spoke up again soon. "Am I allowed to go?"

"To the ball, or with a date?"

"Both."

"Well of course you can go to the ball, it's open to everyone. As for a date, has someone asked you?" Harry looked at her curiously, not sure what he thought about the idea of her going with a boy.

"No, but some of the other girls are talking about it, and who they wish would ask them," she replied, and looked up at him. "So I was just wondering is all."

"Well I suppose it would depend on who asked you," Harry said slowly. "If someone asks you, I'd like it if you told me who it was, before giving an answer. Is that fair to you?"

"Sure," she nodded. "I don't think I'll get asked, but I wanted to know in case. I think me and the other girls might just go together as a big group."

"Good, it's more fun that way," he said firmly. She gave him a look of disbelief, and he chuckled. "Really. I had a date to this ball a couple years ago, and it wasn't much fun, though that was probably my fault. It's nice just to go with friends, and not worry about having to dance with someone, unless you want to."

"Okay," she nodded again as they entered the school.

"I'll see you later Lyn," Harry pulled her against his side and kissed the top of her head.

"Bye Papa," she waved, and ran to catch up with the other first year girls who were leaving the great hall at that moment.

"How touching Harry." Harry looked to his left to see Daphne standing there.

"Hey Daphne, how're you?"

"Fine. What were you up to?" She fell in beside him as he started to walk, heading in the direction of the Defense classroom.

"Just having lunch with Lyn," he replied as he took her bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Spending a little quality time with her."

"Thanks," she gestured to her bag. "That was nice. Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, I did," he smiled brightly. "I was worried it might be a little awkward, cause there's still so much we don't know about each other, but she's such a great little person. I'm loving her more and more as I get to know her."

"Well that's good, seeing as she is your daughter," Daphne laughed lightly.

"She asked me if she could go to the ball, and if she could go with a date," Harry said suddenly. "She hasn't been asked, but I guess some of the other girls were talking about it, and she was curious."

"And what did you tell her?"

"I said I'd like it if she told me who, before giving an answer."

"Well that's rather reasonable, for you at least. Though I think most girls would think you a bit overprotective, and a bit overbearing. Though again, with you picking this all up as you go, that's not too bad."

"Well it's also harder for me, isn't it?" He shot back playfully. "I mean, here I am with two daughters at school. All you girls have your fathers at home, who couldn't forbid you from going with someone. They wouldn't even know if you went with someone unless you chose to tell them. I get to see Lyn everyday, so it's all that much easier for me to check up on her. Though really, I am trying not to check in everyday, and grill her about her studies, and how she's doing, and making sure she eats right and gets enough sleep. I'm trying to let her have the independence she would if she were just a typical student here."

"And you're doing fine," Daphne assured him as she linked her arm through his, giving him a comforting smile. "She seems perfectly happy, and not at all annoyed to have her father here. Though I do think some of that is due to the fact that having a caring father is a bit of a novelty still to her. Once she's used to you, and as she grows older, she's going to act more rebellious. All girls do; we like to test our limits, and see how much we can get away with, and how far we can push our boundaries."

"Oh great," Harry grumbled.

"Honestly," Daphne's musical laugh rang out again. "You worry about dealing with a pre-teen, yet were perfectly unafraid to fight the dark lord?"

"Dark lords I understand, girls are a completely different matter."

"Harry, you have dozens of girls in this school, and hundreds outside of it, that would love to be with you, and I'm sure they'd love to help…educate…you all about women," Daphne smirked.

"I'm sure," Harry blushed slightly, but not too badly as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh you're funny Harry," Daphne shook her head in amusement as they walked into the classroom. "You can't tell me that you honestly don't believe me?"

"No, I believe you," he shook his head. "I've been receiving marriage proposals via owl for years, and even more this year with Voldy's demise. But those women are the ones I'm avoiding. They only want me for my fame, not for me."

"Well then you should look for a girlfriend here in school," Daphne told him as they sat down behind Draco. "There are plenty of girls, who while they might be slightly enamored with your fame, at least know who you are as a person to some degree."

"Maybe."

"It's true, mostly every girl you meet will like you or know you for your fame," she continued, "but that's just something you're going to have to deal with Harry. You may have to date a lot to find someone who sees past your fame. But you will someday. Just be patient. You've got plenty of time."

"I know, but I guess there's a part of me that wants to date someone _now_, and have that type of relationship," Harry sighed, but brightened up. "There is a fifth year who keeps asking me for help in Defense; Natalie MacDonald. She's nice, and cute, and I don't think she's really awed by my fame. Maybe I'll ask her to the November Hogsmede weekend."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Daphne smiled, an indecipherable look in her eyes, then turned her attention to Tonks who was stumbling into the room.

* * *

A/N: All righty, that's it for this chappie. I'm sorry it's shorter than usual, but I wanted to get something out for you. Some nice Harry/Allyn bonding, and some nice Daphne/Harry chit-chat as well. At least I think it's nice, lol. But I wrote it, so I should. Anyways, hopefully I'll get the next chappie out in two weeks, but I've got such a jam-packed schedule, that it might be a little longer. Anyways, review if you're so inclined, and thanks a lot! 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Not mine.

A/N: Thank you so much everyone! And thanks **eluding-you** for letting me know- I was interested, but too lazy to look it up! For the couple of people who mentioned/asked about Harry and Daphne- they'll get together before the end, don't worry. Y'all can expect to start seeing some beginnings of romance between them within the next two or three chapters I'm thinking. I have to see how it goes. But without further ado, here's the next chappie!

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Fourteen

"So how'd things go with…Natalie, was it?" Daphne asked him as he walked into the practice room at the beginning of lunch the next day.

"Yeah, Natalie, and good," he nodded, shifting Rose in her harness. "I talked to her last night, and we're going to toss a quaffle around after dinner. Talk and get to know each other. If things go well, then I think I'll ask her to the October Hogsmede trip."

"I figured," Daphne grinned from where she was seated on a plush chair. "You mentioned the _November_ trip yesterday."

"Well it's not my fault I got the months mixed up," Harry shot back childishly. "I'm dealing with a lot!"

"Would you two stop flirting and start warming up?" Draco drawled from his seat at the piano.

"Jealous Dray?" Daphne smirked at him, while Harry blushed and denied it. Daphne laughed at him, though not in a cruel way. "Honestly Harry, if you deny something, people will automatically be disinclined to believe you. If you do like I did, and simply brush it off, people know that's it's not even worth your attention, and therefore not true."

"Quiet Daphne, you'll give away all the Slytherin rules to live by," Draco interjected, half-serious, half-joking.

"Slytherin rules to live by?"

"Officially called the Slytherin Code of Conduct, it lists a few…_suggestions_…or in other words, mandated rules, that we're encouraged to follow," Draco finally answered Harry after giving him a considering look. "Though it's not forbidden of course, we're generally not to tell others."

"Well why the exception then?"

"The hat wanted to put you in Slytherin," Draco shrugged, his fingers trailing over the piano keys. "So even though you were too ignorant to say yes, that allows you some privileges of the Slytherin House."

"Not to mention you're our friend, and there aren't exactly any other Slytherins to really disagree with us," Daphne grinned.

"So what are these suggestions?" Harry looked at them curiously.

"Hmm, there're a number of them," Draco looked thoughtful. "One of my favourites I suppose is number twelve: A Slytherin is free to do anything he pleases as long as he does it in style. How about you Daphne?"

"Number twenty: Be powerful, beautiful, and without regret," Daphne smiled. "I know Professor Snape likes numbers eight and fourteen."

"And what are those?" Harry asked, not sure if he truly wanted to know.

"Number eight is; always respond to an individual when they call you with either an arched brow, 'yes?', or an irritated 'what do you want?', and number fourteen is; when all else fails, use the subtle art of sarcasm," Daphne answered.

"I think we've shared enough of them," Draco gave her a pointed look. "Now really, we need to get him practicing; class is tomorrow afterall, and I won't have him embarrassing us."

"Yes your majesty," Daphne rolled her eyes, but stood from her chair and walked over to the piano. "Now Harry, let's hear you go over the scales. Actually, let's do another knowledge transfer; you should know how to play the piano so you can accompany Draco and I if we ever need it."

Draco quickly transferred his piano expertise to Harry, glaring at Daphne when she giggled at the two of them. That done, Harry ran through the scales, and also the breathing exercises. Then Daphne pulled out 'The Prayer' and they began to go over that. Daphne switched to playing the piano, so Draco could work with Harry on the male part. For the rest of the lesson, when they weren't singing, Daphne and Draco spoke in Italian, and made Harry do the same. Even though he had been given the knowledge from Draco, he would still need to practice a bit to truly perfect his speech, as his tongue had to become familiar with the new sounds. About fifteen minutes before class would begin, they stopped for a break, and Harry went to his bag.

"Oh bollocks," Harry sighed in frustration as he settled Rose into her harness.

"What?" Daphne looked at him.

"I forgot my transfiguration textbook," he grumbled. "I'll meet you guys at McGonagall's."

"All right, see you later Potter," Draco called as Harry grabbed his bag and dashed out of the room. Once he was gone, Draco turned to face Daphne. "All right, spill."

"What?" Daphne didn't look at him.

"You have been distracted this entire practice, and not up to your usual standards. So I repeat; spill."

"It's nothing Draco," she sighed, hoping he would drop it.

"Now see, when someone says nothing, it generally means something," he drawled, walking over to flop down on the couch next to her.

"Something stupid," she muttered, and was ashamed to feel herself tear up. She wiped angrily at her eyes. "Merlin!"

"Oh Daph," Draco sighed and scooted closer, and wrapped his arms around her. "You're my best friend. Now I don't beg, but please, tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm jealous."

"Of…?"

"Of that stupid, insignificant, fifth year Gryffindor that Harry's going flying with tonight," Daphne laughed, a short bittersweet bark of laughter. "I'm fucking jealous of a girl that Harry's asked out."

"You like him," Draco stated simply as he pulled out his handkerchief and began to gently wipe her face clean.

"Yes I bloody like him," she rolled her eyes. "But he doesn't like me, and he's going out flying with that fifth year twit tonight."

"I think he could like you, if you gave him some inclination as to how you feel."

"I can't do that."

"And why not?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "You're a Slytherin. Slytherins go after what they want."

"I'm scared to."

"I like him, a lot, and that alone is enough to scare me as I've only known him for two weeks really," Daphne whispered. "And I treasure his friendship nearly as much as I do yours, and I don't want to risk losing it. What if I told him that I liked him, and he doesn't feel the same way? What if he hits it off well with Natalie? If I let myself fall, and those feelings aren't returned, I don't know that I could handle that."

"And what if you tell him, and he finds himself as much in-like with you as you are with him, hmm?" Draco used a finger to turn her face towards his. "You'll feel rather silly that you worried so much, acting like a bloody Hufflepuff."

"Nothing wrong with the 'puffs, even if they are too forgiving," she mumbled.

"You're too nice to them, I don't know how you managed to be a Slytherin," Draco chuckled lightly, standing up and pulling her into a hug. "You going to be all right?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded against his chest, enjoying the rare moment of comfort from him. "Thank you."

"Any time Daphne, you're like a sister to me," he smiled, and pulled back. "Let's get to class."

They began gathering their school things together, each checking to make sure they had everything. Daphne also took a few moments to compose herself, and cast a couple of make-up charms. That done, Daphne linked her arm through Draco's offered one, and allowed him to escort her from the room and down the hall to the right towards Transfiguration. Neither of them noticed the figure standing in the alcove just outside the left of the door.

Harry had been just a few steps down the hall when he realized he did, in fact, have his Transfiguration text in his bag. It'd been at the very bottom, underneath some papers, and other books. So upon realizing he did have it, he'd doubled-back to the practice room so he could walk with Draco and Daphne. Apparently he hadn't closed the door all the way, and he couldn't help but overhear them talking. He'd been worried at first when he heard Daphne sniffling a bit, and sounding so upset. Then when he heard his name, and that Daphne liked him, he was rather shocked. He hadn't had any idea at all that she liked him, or even that his friendship meant that much to her.

Harry knew he wouldn't be able to focus in class, or act naturally around Daphne, so he went back into the music room. He called for Winky, and she brought Rose's crib to him, placing it next to the piano. Harry hadn't tried playing since the information transfer, and thought now would be as good a time as any. He laid Rose in the crib, and covered her with a blanket, then sat himself down on the piano bench. He took a moment to just admire the beauty of the piano, and ran his fingers over the ivory and black keys. He placed his hands in position, and softly began to play a minuet. His fingers danced over the keys, the notes rising and falling, the melody and harmony struggling for dominance until the final note of the piece. Harry relaxed his rigid playing posture with a sigh of contentment. He knew it wasn't exactly legal to do information transfers, but he couldn't help but enjoy the immediate gratification he got from them.

He'd asked Draco and Daphne why information transfers weren't used all the time. There were a number of reasons for it, he'd learned. One was that it would make wizards and witches lazy if they didn't have to work to learn anything. Another was that it was generally invasive, and also required a fair amount of trust between individuals, at least for the time needed for the transfer to be completed. A third was that it wasn't fair to some classes of society; generally the wealthier classes were the ones who could afford greater learning opportunities. They wouldn't mind sharing information with others in their same social circles, but they wouldn't want to share with the lower classes, thus keeping them in power, and the others not. So even though it was illegal according to the ministry, it still happened.

Harry let his fingers rest on the keys, and play what they chose, while his mind thought over what he'd heard Draco and Daphne talking about. He mainly thought about Daphne, and how he felt about her, or if he even felt anything for her. He knew he enjoyed spending time with her. She was nice to talk to; she treated him like he was any other guy. She was witty and clever, and had a wonderfully understated sense of humor, and biting sarcasm too. She was smart, though she didn't flaunt it, and she was quite pretty too.

"The potential is definitely there," Harry said aloud to himself. "I know I like her as a friend, and I think I could like her as more. I can't think about that though, cause I'm going flying with Natalie tonight, and it wouldn't be fair to her."

Harry took the conversation he'd overheard, and his thoughts on it, and tucked it behind his occlumency barrier, making it akin to a distant memory till he chose to bring it back to the forefront of his mind. This would allow him to act normally around her, and not give away the fact he'd heard her talking to Draco. He knew she wouldn't want others to know about it, as she'd been crying, and that was generally not done by Slytherins as it was a sign of weakness.

* * *

"You missed Transfiguration. McGonagall wanted to know where you were," Daphne sat down next to him at the piano, and handed him a warm meat and cheese filled pastry. "You missed dinner as well. I had a hunch you might be here."

"When I went to get my book, I got distracted playing with Rose, and then I came here to try playing the piano," he gestured to the instrument. "Got so involved I forgot about dinner. Thanks."

"Anytime," she smiled. "Someone has to look after the boy-who-lived."

"And you're the one to do it?" Harry returned her smile.

"For now," she tilted her head to the side. "Shouldn't you be heading to the quidditch pitch about now?"

"Yeah," Harry nodded, looking at his watch. "I need to go grab my broom first, and get Rose to Winky."

"Why don't I watch her?" Daphne offered. "That way Winky can have the evening off to spend it with Dobby, and you won't have to worry."

"Really, you don't mind?"

"Not at all. She's a sweetheart, and besides, Draco'll help me with her. He's absolutely taken with her."

"Well…if you're sure…?"

"Yes!" Daphne laughed, picking Rose up from the crib. "Now go, we'll be fine."

"All right, thanks Daphne," he grinned and leaned forward to give her a peck on her cheek before dashing out of the room.

Daphne sat frozen in shock, and fought the urge to squeal in glee. Harry had kissed her! Yes it was only on the cheek, and it meant absolutely nothing- he kissed Hermione and Ginny like that often- but it was still a kiss. Daphne sighed, and shook herself a bit. '_I shouldn't get carried away. I need to stay calm, and stop acting like a stupid child. He doesn't like me, he's just excited about getting to go fly with that fifth year. I don't know what he sees in her anyways. She's too young for him, and she's not even that pretty.'_

"Earth to Daphne," Draco's voice interrupted the beginnings of her pity-party as he sat down next to her.

"Hello Dray," she leaned against him.

"Was that Potter I passed in the hall?"

"Yes, he's going to get his broom so he can head down to the pitch to meet Natalie."

"You didn't tell him?"

"Of course I didn't Draco," she sighed. "One, he seems excited about Natalie, and secondly, you know that pureblood women are taught to let the man make the first move. And I know, we're slowly moving away from some of those old rules, but old habits die hard. I'm too nervous that he'll reject me."

"He could never, you're too gorgeous to say no to," Draco tried to tease a smile out of her. "If I didn't see you as a sister, I'd probably ask you out."

"That's sweet of you to say," she smiled, and kissed his cheek. "You'll make some girl very lucky someday."

"I suppose."

"Any idea who yet?" Daphne looked at him curiously. Draco's mother was a quarter veela, giving Draco one eighth of veela blood; not enough to do anything, except give him the ability to recognise a prospective wife. Any number of girls could work as a compatible wife, but he felt the link stronger with some than others; he still hadn't found a very strong link yet. Part of that was due to the fact that Draco's mating ability let him know all possibilities, regardless of age, but the link only activated to it's full potential once the girl reached their age of maturity.

"A couple of prospects, and yes, one of them appears to be a rather strong link," Draco nodded. "I won't know till she's reached the age of maturity though, you know that."

"Yes, I know. Who is it?"

"Daphne, you know I won't tell you," he glared mildly. "I don't want any of the girls I might link with to find out and try to woo me just because of my name and money."

"All right, don't get your knickers in a twist."

"Malfoys never do," he raised an eyebrow and looked down his nose at her for a moment, before laughing lightly, and standing. "I've got homework to do. I'll see you later?"

"Of course," she tilted her cheek towards him for a kiss, and he obliged. "Thanks again for listening Draco."

"Anytime," he gave her a brief smile before turning and leaving.

Daphne stood and wandered over to one of the windows. She could just see the quidditch pitch from where she stood, and could barely make out two figures flying around, tossing a ball back and forth. She turned away from the window and leaned against the wall with a sigh.

"There's no use worrying about something that'll never happen," Daphne told herself sternly. "I need to forget about Harry as anything other than a friend."

* * *

"I had fun tonight," Harry looked over at Natalie as they landed their brooms on the middle of the field.

"Me too," she grinned as she put the quaffle back into the box, and then shut it with some help from Harry.

"Good," Harry smiled back as they each grabbed a handle of the box and walked it to the quidditch storage shed.

"So, not that I'm complaining, but why'd you ask me out?" Natalie looked at him curiously. "Err…this is a date, right? That's the vibe I was getting from you when you asked me."

"Yeah, a kind of getting-to-know-you-better sort of date."

"Okay. So, why?"

"Honestly, I guess I'm really just feeling fed up with girls," Harry started, then stopped. "That really didn't come out right."

"I figured," she couldn't help but laugh.

"Just…obviously, you know I'm famous, and there are so many women that are sending me letters, asking to date me, and even _marry_ me! And you know, right now, all I want to do is see that there are girls who I can date, that like me for me, and not for my name, or something I did as a baby that I can't even remember."

"I'll admit that growing up, I'd heard stories of you, and they were only more spectacular once I got here," she waved a hand around to encompass Hogwarts. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't think of the boy-who-lived first, rather than 'just Harry', but honestly, you're going to be hard pressed not to."

"Yeah, I get that, I do," Harry nodded. "Daphne's mentioned that before, and I'm okay with that. I just want to know that there are people who can see past that, and like the 'just Harry' me, instead of the 'boy-who-lived' me."

"Well I'm one of those girls," she blushed, looking down at her feet as they walked. "I do like you, for your quidditch abilities, and for your skill at Defense, and teaching it too."

"I'll be honest; I've had fun tonight, and I've enjoyed spending time with you. You're great to talk to, and I think, with time, I could like you."

"I'll take that."

"I'm not looking to get really serious though. I've got Rose to focus on; she's my number one priority."

"Casual dating then? And we can see other people if someone comes along?" Natalie suggested. Harry hesitated in answering, and she smirked knowingly. "Or has someone come along already?"

"Ugh…" Harry gave a heavy sigh, and ran a hand through his hair. "I recently found out that this girl likes me, but she doesn't think I'd ever return her feelings. I like her as a friend, that much I know, but I don't know how I feel about her romantically, though I think there's potential there. Merlin! Why does dating, and love, and the whole relationship thing have to be so confusing?!"

"Life would be boring otherwise?" Natalie laughed as she grabbed his hand, and forced him to stop. "Here, let's make this easy."

"Make what easy?"

"Seeing whether or not we'd work out if we dated seriously," she told him, then stood on tiptoes to kiss him on the lips; she pulled back after a few seconds. "Nope."

"Huh?" Harry looked bewildered, partly from the shock of being kissed so abruptly. "No what?"

"No, we wouldn't work as a couple, at least not seriously."

"And you got that all from a kiss?"

"Yeah," she gave him a look that said 'duh'. "When you find that person, and you kiss them, there are fireworks, and tingly feelings, and stomach flipping, and your whole body just feels like it's been electrified."

"Not familiar with that."

"Well trust me, you'll know it when it happens," she gave him a smile as they started walking towards the castle doors once more. "Don't settle for anything less."

* * *

A/N: Okay, I know, it's shorter than usual, again! But I wanted to get a chapter out for y'all to read, since it's been three weeks. I had my wisdom teeth out, and this past week was my spring break, so you'll forgive me for not updating, I hope! Next chapter will be up hopefully in two weeks, back on schedule, but with the way school is, I can't make any promises! But reviews might help me update faster! Lol, thanks! 


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Not mine!

A/N: Hey everyone. So, I'm hoping you all saw the little blurb in the summary of the story- I was sick. I was in the hospital with a UTI, kidney stones, and then I got an infection at the site of the surgery, so I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks dealing with that. When I did come home finally, I caught the flu, though only a mild case, but enough to keep me feeling extremely weak. Literally, I got tired walking the fifteen feet from my bed to the bathroom. But I'm feeling pretty much back to normal now, and have the latest chapter for you here. Enjoy!

The Little Child To Lead Him

Chapter Fifteen

"Hey Potter!"

"What Malfoy?" Harry stopped in the entrance hall and turned to see Draco coming toward him and Natalie.

"I found the book, and wanted to go ahead and give it to you before I forgot," Draco held out a thin book to him.

"What book?"

"The one that covers the specific courtship guidelines," Draco raised his eyebrows. "We talked about this a few days ago? Ring any bells in that tiny brain of yours?"

"I'll just leave you two to your lover's spat," Natalie shook her head in amusement.

Harry opened his mouth to object, but remembered what Daphne had said about denying things and ignoring comments like that. Closing his mouth, he imitated Draco's smirk and said, "In his dreams."

"Funny Harry," Natalie giggled, and headed up the stairs and was soon out of sight.

"Not too bad Potter," Draco nodded his head in approval. "Not up to standard of course, but a very nice first attempt. I may make a proper pureblooded Slytherin of you yet."

"Really?! How wonderful! That's just what I always wanted!" Harry put on a mock-thrilled look, clasping his hands together and jumping up and down.

"Shut up," Draco hit Harry upside the head with the book, then put it in his hands. "Here, so you can educate yourself properly. I'll see you in singing class tomorrow."

"All right, thanks Malfoy," Harry nodded as Draco turned and walked, presumably, back to the dungeons.

Harry watched him till he was out of sight. With a sigh, he sat down on the staircase, his broom beside him, his back against one of the railings, and looked at the book he was holding. "So You Want To Woo a Woman?" Harry snorted at the title after reading it. "Merlin, that's stupid sounding." Harry sighed again, but opened the book to the first chapter, and began reading. As stupid as the title was, and the introduction, the book had some interesting information, if not totally pertinent for today's society. Some things Harry hadn't even heard of; like when sending a girl flowers, you should choose them carefully because flowers have their own language, and mean different things.

"And I'm supposed to adhere to all of this?" Harry looked at the book in disgust. "How am I even supposed to remember all this? I'm busy enough as it is with classes, and my daughters, and that stupid ball coming up."

"_Daughters_, Mister Potter?"

"Professor McGonagall!" Harry scrambled to his feet after almost falling off the step he'd been sitting on. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe I could ask the same of you," she replied, her tone brooking no nonsense. "Why don't we move this discussion to my office? Somehow I think this will take some time."

Harry nodded, and fell into step behind Professor McGonagall. His mind was racing; she'd overheard his 'daughters' comment. Harry smacked himself in the head, ducking his head and blushing when Professor McGonagall looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. Harry smacked himself again, mentally this time, for his stupidity. He should've been more aware of his surroundings, and the fact that he wasn't in the privacy of his own room. He shook his head, and brought himself back to reality as Professor McGonagall opened the door to her office, and motioned for him to enter. She gestured to the chair in front of her desk as she sat herself down.

"Now, why don't you explain your comment to me."

"You know Allyn is from an orphanage?" Harry asked, and she nodded. "Well when I went to King's Cross, there was a man from the orphanage with her, and he was being cruel, and hit her, and I saw red. I can't stand seeing children being hurt. So I summoned the adoption papers right then and there, and signed them, making her daughter number two."

"_Making_ her daughter number two? That would imply that you had to _make_ daughter number one."

"Damn," Harry cursed, ignoring her glare, then sighed. "All right, fine. Rose used to be my niece, but when she started showing signs of magic, my aunt made me promise to take care of Rose should anything happen to her. Well she died giving birth, so I froze the room, modified some memories, and took Rose and got out of there. Later I went to Knockturn Alley and got some adoption books, and did a blood adoption. So regardless, she _is_ my daughter."

"I never doubted that Mister Potter," she said kindly. "Now, why is it you neglected to tell anyone that?"

"I don't see why it matters," he grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly. "She's my daughter now, who cares about the how and why of it?"

"All right, though I still feel that it might be good of you to tell your friends at some point," she rifled in her desk for some papers. "Now, knowing that you are Miss Williams…or is it Miss Potter?"

"Err…we really haven't talked about it much," Harry frowned. "Potter-Williams I suppose."

"As I was saying, now that I know you are Miss Potter-Williams' guardian, I'll need to add that information to her school records," she raised a hand when she saw him start to protest. "I'm required to by law. And that will also mean it's a matter of record for anyone who cares to look. I don't truly believe anyone will, but you should be aware that it's a possibility."

"All right. Thanks Professor."

"Now, before you leave, why is it that you feel the ball is stupid?" Professor McGonagall asked. "Humor me."

"Because first of all, I have to find a costume and I haven't a clue what to go as, not to mention Rose. Secondly, girls are already sending me those stupid looks, and giggling, and asking me to the ball. I hate it, and I hate the fact that I feel like I _have_ to bring a date to that ball. Not to mention the whole dancing thing! I don't know how to dance!"

"It's times like these Mister Potter, that I'm reminded just how old you really are," she laughed lightly. "My advice to yo would be to just ignore the girls and the societal obligations you feel you have. Claim Rose is your date if you think that would help."

"I might at that Professor," he nodded with a sigh. He stood and turned to the door, but turned back suddenly. "Hey Professor, you know how to dance don't you?"

"Yes Mister Potter, as you may remember from prior to the Yule Ball."

"Would you be able to give me lessons maybe? Nothing super fancy or anything, but just enough so that I won't embarrass myself?"

"I'd be happy to," she gave him a rare, genuine smile. "Let's begin."

"Wha- _now_?!" Harry stared at her, dumbfounded. "You mean here, now…right now?"

"Yes, right now Mister Potter," Professor McGonagall flicked her wand, and suddenly a piece of parchment became a victrola, playing soft music. She stood up, and reached a hand out and took his in hers. "Now, this music is typical of a waltz. Listen to the rhythm…hear the 1-2-3, 1-2-3 of the music? Good. Those are the beats you'll be stepping to. Now the proper position for the waltz is very simple. Your right hand will go on my waist, holding firmly so as to properly lead and guide me about the dance floor. My left hand will res ton your shoulder or upper arm; this will depend on the height of your partner, and what's more comfortable for her. With your left hand you'll lightly hold my right hand."

"All right," Harry took in everything she said, committing it to memory, as well as making a 'mental picture' of sorts of how he was standing and holding her. "What next?"

"The basic step of the waltz is the extremely easy. Stand with your feet together. For this dance, you'll be toe-to-toe with your partner. Step forward with your left foot- not so big a step! Remember, you'll need to lead your partner, and she will undoubtedly be in heels, which are not conducive to taking huge steps. Smaller steps are also smoother and more graceful. Now, after taking a step with your left foot, you're going to bring your right foot forward and to the side a bit, shifting your weight onto it, and bring your left foot back into position next to it. Have you got that?"

"Yes Professor."

"Good. Then you will step back on your right foot, then bring your left foot back and to the side, shifting your weight onto it, and finally bring your right foot back and beside it. You'll have noticed you've made a box, and ended up back in the starting position. This is all that is needed for the most basic waltz. Repeating those series of steps to the beat, and slowly turning your body as well to rotate a bit around the floor. We'll work on that once you've become comfortable enough with the basic step so as to not need to look at your feet."

"Okay," Harry nodded, and again took a moment to commit the steps to memory.

The rest of that evening passed in that fashion; a few other simple steps were added in, and a simple turn as well. Professor McGonagall also made him practice looking at her face, and not his feet when dancing. As she told him, it's incredibly rude to not speak to your partner while dancing. So while learning how to dance, Harry was also instructed in some of the polite niceties of small talk, and how to keep a conversation going. As the lesson winded down, Harry was try to remember everything, and feeling very grateful that he had a pensieve to put the memory in; this way he could go back later and watch it and practice more. He kept it in one of the compartments of his trunk in his room, safe from prying eyes. He hadn't used it too much, but there were times when some of his nightmares got so bad he needed to take out the bad memories in order to have some peace. He always put them back in his head once he got up though, since he knew it was something he needed to remember, in case of future threats. Harry was also pondering the idea of putting copies of class lessons into the pensieve, and watching them and reviewing the information so he could improve.

"We'll continue your lessons the evening after tomorrow, I believe you're free?"

"Yes professor," Harry nodded.

"You have my permission to call me Minerva while in private," she gave him a rare smile. "I dare say it'll be awkward for you at first, but you'll get used to it. Your father and his friends did as well when they asked for lessons too."

"Really? For what?"

"Your parents wedding. James and the rest realized they hadn't the slightest idea how to dance, and James didn't want to embarrass Lily. So they came to me for lessons."

"And you let them call you Minerva? I can't see Sirius doing that."

"He didn't," Professor McGonagall grimaced slightly. "He always called me Minnie. Your father alternated between Minerva, and Aunt Minerva for some reason. Remus, always the gentleman, called me Professor McGonagall, as did Peter."

Harry was quiet for a minute, just processing this new information about his parents. "Thank you for telling me about them…Minnie."

"Don't even start with that dreadful nickname," she tried to scold him, but the corners of her lips were quirking up in amusement. "Your godfather was bad enough."

"I won't, but can I use Aunt Minerva? I think I like that better than any of the others," Harry asked shyly, still not quite sure about this new dynamic in their relationship. She'd always been kind to him, and protective of the Gryffindors. Their relationship had gotten more friend-like when she stood up for him to Umbridge back in fifth year, and ever since they'd been friends. Now it seemed it was transitioning to more of a family dynamic, and that was something he liked.

"Of course Harry, I'd be honoured and delighted," she laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly before letting it fall back to her side. "Now, I believe you have your daughters waiting for you. I'll see you evening after tomorrow."

"Bye Aunt Minerva," Harry grinned, gave her a quick hug, and dashed out of the room before she could react. Harry laughed to himself as he ran back to Gryffindor tower. With Voldemort gone, he'd been allowing himself these impulsive, child-like moments more and more often. Some might say it was immature, but in his defense, he'd never really been allowed to act like a child, so if he wanted to do so now, no one was going to stop him. He let this train of thought disappear as he gave the fat lady the password, and entered Gryffindor Tower, waving to his friends before going on up to his room. As he entered, he called Winky, and told her to take the night off to do whatever she would like.

"There's my girl," Harry smiled as he saw his daughter in her playpen, staring up at the quidditch mobile above her. He leaned over and picked her up, holding her close as he breathed in the scent of baby-powder, lotion, and something that was just completely unique to a baby. "I love you Rose. I'm sorry I haven't been spending as much time with you as I would like to. Classes are a bit hectic at the beginning, though it's slowing down a bit. I promise, I'm going to make a point of spending more time with you. Is that okay with you?"

Rose cooed, and waved her fist a bit, Harry's finger trapped in her tiny grasp. Harry laughed. "I'll take that as a yes. Now, let's grab your blanket here, and go downstairs and see your aunt and uncle, huh? Would you like that? Of course you would, you love the attention."

Harry grinned as Rose made another cooing noise, and stuffed her fist in her mouth. He picked up a warm pink blanket and tucked it around Rose, leaving her arms free, and grabbed one of her bottles, and a burping cloth. Almost as an afterthought, he grabbed a cloth-covered ring that was made of a crinkly sounding material for her to play with. She'd be getting her bottle and going to bed soon, but she might like to play with it all the same. Everything in hand, he made his way back down to the common room, and over to his friends. Hermione was working on Transfiguration with Neville, while Parvati and Lavender were talking about the upcoming Halloween Ball, and Ron, Seamus and Dean were discussing, yet again, whether football or quidditch was better. They paused when he sat down with them.

"Hey Harry, how's the munchkin?" Seamus asked, giving Rose a finger to grab onto, which she did briefly, shaking it around.

"As you can see, she's doing fine," Harry smiled. "I'm not so good though; I miss being able to spend all my time with her."

"Poor you," Lavender giggled. "You've got the weekends though, so that should help."

"It does, but I still feel like I'm missing out on things."

"Maybe so, but just think how many parents have to go to work, and put their children in the care of a house elf just like you? They don't have opportunities to see their children during work, but you get to have Rose in class with you," Hermione pointed out, always the logical one.

"I know, really, I do," Harry sighed, slouching down in his chair as Ron took Rose from him. "But that doesn't make it easier. Don't worry though, I'm dealing with my separation anxiety. I'll get over it."

"And we'll help," Ron grinned, bouncing Rose lightly. "We'll just take turns holding her, so you get used to not having her in your arms."

"Oh yes, cause that's _such_ an imposition for you," Harry rolled his eyes, fighting a laugh, but not succeeding.

"Yes, terribly," Ron sighed dramatically as Lavender took Rose from him. It wasn't much longer though before she began fussing, and soon her fussing was a full-blown cry.

"I didn't do anything, I promise!" Lavender looked slightly panicked as Harry took Rose back.

"Don't worry, I know," he smiled kindly at Lavender. "She's just tired, and it's her bedtime."

Harry started humming, and rocking Rose back and forth as he stood up and started walking slowly around his friends' seats. He was so focused on Rose as he fed her a bottle, that he soon forgot about his friends. As Rose quieted down, drinking her bottle, Harry started to sing a lullaby softly. He continued as she finished, and while he burped her, not stopping till she was soundly sleeping in his arms. Only then did he remember that he had an audience, and looked up from Rose to see not only his friends, but the rest of Gryffindor tower watching him. Harry coloured a bit, but kept his attention on Rose as he headed up to their rooms, and put her in her crib. He activated the charm that would let him know if she started crying, and headed back down to the common room to face the music.

"Face the music, hah," Harry rolled his eyes at the horrid, unintended pun, and walked over to his friends and sat down on a couch next to Neville.

"You can sing," Ron was the first to speak.

"Yes, I rather believe I told you that," Harry just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"But you never said you could sing that great! Well, you said you thought that you could sing all right, but you were being modest," Hermione exclaimed.

"Really Harry, you're a wonderful singer," Neville nodded. "I can only imagine how good you are when you're concentrating and giving it your all."

"Thanks," Harry replied after a moment, not entirely comfortable with the compliments. These weren't terrible to deal with though, as they were earned through his own talent, and not something he did as a baby, thanks to his mother.

"Will you sing something for us?" Parvati asked.

"You don't have to though, we'll understand that you'd rather not," Dean added.

Harry looked around at his friends, and saw that they all seemed keen to hear him sing. He also looked around the common room, and noticed that there were still a number of students up. Sighing softly, he mentally told himself that he should get used to singing in front of people, as he undoubtedly would have to do it more in chorus, and at the showcase. He also didn't doubt that Daphne and Draco would make him sing with them as well. He turned back to his friends and asked, "What would you like to hear?"

"Oh anything, maybe a ballad though, I love slow songs," Lavender clapped her hands excitedly, and gave a squeal.

"What's going on?" Allyn came over, having heard the clapping.

"I'm about to sing for them," Harry informed her, pulling her down onto the couch between him and Neville. "I started to sing Rose to sleep without realising it, so now they want to hear me sing."

"Ooh yay," Allyn smiled brightly, even as she yawned. "Do you know 'Nella Fantasia'? Mum used to love that song."

"I do, would you like me to sing it?" Harry kept his attention on her, feeling much more at ease when he had someone to sing to, and didn't have to look at his friends. Allyn nodded, and leaned against him as he started to sing. Slowly, the noise in the common room died down as they realized Harry was singing again, until the only sound was Harry's voice. He effortlessly sang the song, his smooth voice pleasing to everyone's ears. As Harry sang, he kept his eyes on his drifting-to-sleep daughter, his hand stroking her hair gently. He chanced a few looks at his friends, and was happy to see that they were smiling. Even though he knew they liked his singing, for some reason he still felt like they hadn't been sincere, or may not have really thought he was good. The song soon ended, and as Harry let the last note die, his friends and the other students began applauding. Allyn woke up with the clapping, which gave a blushing Harry something to attend to.

"Get on up to bed Lyn," he ordered gently, giving her a push with his hand toward the stairs.

"Night," she whispered, hugging him, then slowly made her way to the staircase and up and out of sight.

"That was beautiful Harry," Hermione looked at him proudly. "Thank you for singing. I know you don't like the attention."

"Correction, I don't like the attention when it's for something I had no control over. Quidditch, and now my singing, are completely different matters. I've worked at both of them, so I at least feel that I earn some of the praise I get for them," Harry ducked his head a bit as he spoke, glad that the applause had stopped.

"Well still," Hermione shrugged. "We appreciate it."

"Yeah mate," Ron added. "I reckon that you're almost as good a singer as you are a seeker."

Everyone burst out laughing at him; only Ron would make quidditch out to be the most important talent one could have. Ron gave a mock-affronted glare to the group, but soon cracked a smile, and was laughing just as hard as the rest of them. They slowly managed to calm back down, and went back to their previous activities. Harry was pulled into a game of chess by Ron, and lost spectacularly within ten moves. He was then content to sit and watch Ron trounce Seamus, and then Dean. Once Dean had lost, Harry bid his friends goodnight, and headed to his room. He checked in on Rose, showered quickly and pulled on some sleep pants, and climbed into bed.

Try as he might, he couldn't go to sleep. He found himself tossing and turning for hours, until it was almost one o'clock. When he had first lain down, he found himself thinking about Daphne, and also about the book that Draco had given him. With both topics weighing on his mind, Harry decided a mug of hot cocoa was in order. He sat up, threw on a Weasley jumper, his slippers, and swung his invisibility cloak over his shoulders. Grabbing the map, his wand, and the book Draco had given him, he made his way downstairs and out the portrait. Activating the map, he saw that only Filch was out, but was in the dungeons, and nowhere near the kitchens nor Gryffindor tower.

"How may we be helping you?" One of the house elves asked him a moment after he entered the kitchens.

"I'd like a mug of hot chocolate, with marshmallows please, if it's not too much trouble," Harry asked, sitting down at a small table near a fireplace as the elf scurried off to get his order. He was back not even a minute later. "Thanks."

"You is welcome. If sir is needing anything else, sir just needs to be calling for one of us," the elf bowed, and disappeared to wherever the elves went at night. Shaking his head to clear it, Harry opened up the book again and started re-reading it, sipping on his hot chocolate as he did. He became so involved with the book, that his hot chocolate was forgotten, and cooled.

"A lot of help this is," Harry grumbled to himself after reading through it. "It tells me things I should do, but not exactly how to do them. _Lovely_. Guess I get to stumble through this part on my own."

Harry gathered his things together, and covered himself with his invisibility cloak once more, and headed back to his room. He sat himself at his desk, and pulled out some parchment, ink, and a quill, and began to write a letter. Several pieces of parchment later, he finished, and took it down to the common room and deposited it in the inter-school mailbox. For letters that were to other students, each common room had a chest where you could deposit your letter, and it would be delivered the next morning at breakfast with the regular owl post. Harry didn't want to use Hedwig, as she was so distinctive, and he wanted to keep things quiet for now. That done, Harry felt much more at ease, and also very sleepy all of a sudden, and went back to his room to sleep for a few hours till Rose would wake him up.

* * *

"What's this?" Draco mused aloud as a letter appeared in front of his plate at breakfast. He wasn't expecting any mail; the only mail he ever received was from Gringotts, concerning his estate. He pulled out his wand and cast a number of charms, checking it for hexes or any other unpleasant surprises, and finding none, curiously opened it.

_Draco Malfoy,_

_Let me start off by saying this will probably be completely wrong, as that blasted book you gave me doesn't give the slightest indication as to how I should go about doing this. I made a couple of attempts at writing something that sounded posh and proper, but you've already got your mind made up about me one way or the other, so I reckoned that wouldn't have done any good anyhow. So, on to what I'm trying to get at. I would like to formally declare my intentions of courting Daphne Greengrass. As she has no relatives, and you are like a brother to her, as well as a close friend, I am asking permission to date her. There's no way I plan on having chaperones on our dates, but I can assure you I won't do a thing that she doesn't want me to do. You know her better than I do, and I'm sure you know that if I did do something she wasn't ready for, I'd be hexed in a number of nasty ways. That said, I don't intend for things to move fast; you know I've got Rose and Allyn, and they _are _my first priorities. I respect and care for Daphne a great deal, and will take care of her for as long as we might be together. _

_Sincerely,_

_Harry James Potter_

"Morning Draco," Daphne's voiced interrupted his musings on the letter, as she sat down across from him.

"Daphne," he nodded his head slightly, re-reading the letter.

"What's that?"

"A letter."

"About?"

"It's a declaration of intent to court you, should I give my permission," Draco finally answered her after a minute.

"Someone wants to court me?" Daphne looked at him in surprise. "And they're doing this in the old ways?"

"Not entirely," Draco shook his head. "He didn't really know how to write the letter, and he also says he's not going to hold with the rule regarding chaperones and such."

"Well neither would I," Daphne laughed. "A lot of what's involved in the old courtship rituals is silly, and doesn't really apply to this day and age anyways. So if he doesn't want to follow them, that's perfectly fine with me."

"I agree, though I must admit I'm pleased that he chose to ask my permission."

"I do like that too," Daphne smiled, resting her chin in her hands. "Now, are you going to tell me who it is that's asked?"

"I haven't even decided if I should grant him permission," Draco looked at her. "Though I think that regardless of what I say, he'd probably do it anyways."

"Well, that means it's a Gryffindor. None other would go against you."

"I never said it was someone in this school. There are a number of families with eligible sons who wouldn't mind aligning themselves with the Greengrass heiress."

"You're right," Daphne looked thoughtful. "I hadn't even thought of that. Silly of me I suppose. Well then, now that I really don't have a clue, are you going to tell me?"

"I'll tell you that I'm giving him permission to announce his intentions to you, and you may decide whether or not you're interested," Draco scrawled a quick reply at the bottom of the letter, and it disappeared with a pop.

"Dray…" Daphne nearly whined, though of course that was far beneath a Slytherin, so she kept herself in check.

"I've given you my answer Daphne, now you just have to be patient," he smirked, taking a bite of his eggs. "Besides, I find it highly amusing to watch you like this. You're so used to getting your way and having things under control, it's nice to see you a little unsettled over something like this."

"Well can you at least tell me if I've met him?"

"Yes."

"Yes what? Yes you can tell me, or yes I've met him?"

"Yes you've met him."

"Do you approve of him?"

"Would I have given my permission otherwise?"

"If you thought I liked him, or might like him, then yes, I think you would."

"Are you hoping the letter was from someone in particular?" Draco raised an eyebrow as he watched her colour slightly.

"Not really, no."

"Not even Potter? I know you have feelings for him."

"Don't remind me," she groaned, dropping her face into her hands. "I don't even want to think about it. He went on that date with that fifth year; I saw them kiss when they were walking back to the castle. I'm just going to do my best to forget about how I feel about him, and hopefully my feelings will go away."

"Well I'm sorry, but I don't think that's going to work."

"And why not?"

"Turn around," was all Draco said before standing and leaving. Daphne lifted her head, and looked behind her to see Harry holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Harry, what on earth…?" She stopped when Harry held up a hand.

"I've asked for, and gotten, permission from Draco to court you. Now, I'd like to ask you if you would be willing to go out with me?" He handed her the bouquet and waited nervously for her reply.

"Friendship…trust…hope…faithful…kindness…," she gently touched each flower as she named it's meaning. "I see you did some research on flowers and their meanings, or rather, you asked Hermione."

"Research."

"And to answer your question, yes, I would love to go out with you," she finally looked up at him, a soft, content, smile on her face.

Harry smiled back, and sat down next to her. "Hogsmede this weekend?"

"Actually, do you think we could just stay here? Maybe just spend time with your girls?"

"You'd do that?" Harry looked pleasantly surprised.

"Of course! They come first in your life, and if I'm going to be involved at all in your life, I want to get to know them better," she reached a hand out and rested it on top of his where it was lying on the table. Harry turned his hand palm up and laced his fingers through hers, marveling at just how small her hands were.

"Thank you," he looked at her gratefully. "They come first in my life, and that's not something everyone would understand, but you do. You know, we've '_been together_' for only a few minutes, but in some ways, I feel like it's been so much longer. I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but-"

"No, it makes perfect sense," she interrupted him. "We've spent a fair amount of time talking these past couple of weeks. A lot of those talks have been about our views on love, and our experiences with relationships. We've also talked about what we want in a relationship someday. Knowing what we do, that makes it easier for us to just fall into this. And now we get to see where it goes."

Harry and Daphne shared a look, before falling into a comfortable silence, something that made Harry smile. He'd worried about whether or not she'd say yes, even with having overheard her conversation with Draco. His worries were for naught though, as she did say yes, and here they sat. He was amazed by how _right_ this seemed, as if it were only natural. He'd heard people talk about soul mates and love-at-first-sight, but never really put much stock in that. Now though, with Daphne, he understood how people got those ideas. There was an undeniable connection between them, now that he'd taken the time to think about it. He could only hope they would have plenty of time together to see just how far they could go. He wasn't silly enough to think that just because things were great now, that they would always be great. You had to work at a relationship to keep it going. Not to mention, things always seem wonderful in the beginning, but after a few months, things you once thought were cute, now become pet peeves.

"I hate to do this," Harry spoke up, noticing more students walking in.

"Go on, head over to your friends," Daphne nodded, interrupting him once again. "You want to keep things a secret for a while."

"Yeah," he sighed, grateful yet again that she understood. "This is just too new for us to be dealing with on top of paparazzi notice, and Hogwarts' watchful eyes. I'd like to spend some time as 'just us' and get comfortable with that before adding in the insanity that's my life."

"I've had feelings for you for a while Harry, and when I allowed myself to entertain the idea of us together, I knew that would be part of it. I don't have any expectations of things being all sunshine and daisies," she assured him as he stood.

"I'll see you in class," he gave her hand a squeeze before releasing it, and walked over to Gryffindor table. He piled a plate with food, and began eating, suddenly feeling very hungry after all the excitement of the morning. Not long after, Hermione came in, bag of books in hand, and sat down across from him with a smile. She loaded some eggs and fruit onto her plate, as well as some sausage, and poured herself a cup of tea.

"You're up early Harry," she greeted him. pulling out her transfiguration text, which was their first class that morning. She opened it, propped the book against a bowl of fruit, and began reading; all this was done one-handed, as she was also eating.

"Had some things on my mind, that's all," he shrugged, watching her in amusement. Her dedication to schoolwork knew no bounds.

She looked up at him curiously, as well as concerned. "Everything all right?"

"It is now. Everything's great."

"You want to share?"

"A part of me does, but then I'd have to ask you to keep it to yourself, and that's not fair to you as you and Ron tell each other everything," Harry shook his head.

"Not everything; he doesn't care to know when my monthlies start," Hermione teased. "I think I can promise to keep this to myself as long as it's not some momentous event."

"I'm courting Daphne," Harry finally said, a smile on his face.

"Courting, that's so old fashioned sounding," Hermione laughed; she was so happy for him, since he appeared so happy himself.

"Well you know that I've got a book from Draco that details all the society rituals for relationships and all, and they refer to it as courting. Anyways, I sent Draco a letter, expressing my intent to court Daphne, and asking his permission to do so, as he's the closest thing she has to family. He said fine, as long as Daphne agreed, and so I grabbed a bouquet of flowers that I had Winky help me get, and I asked her this morning."

"And she said yes."

"And she said yes," Harry nodded, trying not to smile. "Merlin, I feel like an idiot! I can hardly keep a smile off my face whenever I think about it. Is that normal? I mean, do relationships happen like that?"

"When Ron and I first acknowledged our feelings, I was the exact same way you are now," Hermione giggled, nodding. "All the feelings of relief that the person you like feels the same way, it's just a huge adrenaline rush. You'll calm down soon, I'm sure."

"Good, cause I don't want Snape to dock points for smiling too much," Harry joked, and they both laughed. It was cut short though, when an owl flew down and landed in front of Harry, holding his leg out for Harry to untie the letter, which he did.

"Who's the letter from?" Hermione asked, not recognizing the owl as belonging to anyone they knew.

"I don't know," Harry shrugged as he broke the seal and unfolded the piece of paper, reading it over.

Hermione watched as his eyes widened, and his skin grew slightly pale, and her brows furrowed in concern as he gave a small gasp. "Harry, what's wrong, what's happened?" He looked up at her, his eyes showing shock and amazement.

"Harry?" Hermione prompted, reaching a hand out to rest on his arm.

"I've been asked to come to a try-out for the Chudley Cannons."

* * *

A/N: Okie dokie. At long last, here is the chapter. Once again, I'd like to thank you all for being so patient and encouraging- your 'get well' wishes really helped! Even once I was better, I still had the hassle of finals, and packing up to come home. I'm home now, and don't start babysitting till June 15th, so hopefully I'll have some time to get another chapter out pretty quickly for you all. My mum has a long list of chores and projects for me to do however, so that'll take some time. But I promise, two weeks till the next chapter! 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Not mine!

A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you sooooo much for all the reviews- you guys are fabulous. This chapter is a longer one as well, and will bring the story up to the Halloween ball. For those of you who wanted more Rose/Harry time, I hope you liked the part in the last chapter. I'll try to include some more in this one as well. And for everyone who was patiently and not-so-patiently waiting- Daphne and Harry are now together. I don't really think it's sudden; I've been kind of building up to it. I also hope their comfort with each other doesn't seem too unlikely as well; I have friends who were like that. Once they hooked up, they just settled into a relationship quite easily. That's not to say there won't be problems or issues, but for now, they're both on an adrenaline high of sorts. Also, a slightly random note, I think I misspelled "Canons" in the last chapter with two 'n's. Also…I know, this A/N is getting long…a couple of people were wondering how long the story is going to run, time-frame wise. Honestly? I think I'm going to try and wrap it up this chapter- life is getting a bit crazy for me. See end a/n.

The Little Child to Lead Him

Chapter Sixteen

"You've been _what_?" Hermione stared at him, aghast.

"The Chudley Canons want me to come try out for the team," Harry repeated.

Hermione just stared at him. "Are you going to?"

"No," Harry shook his head after a few minutes, sighing. "As much fun as it would be to play quidditch professionally, I can't. I need to be there for my daughters, and not to mention, I'm entirely too busy this year with classes to even consider it."

"You know Ron's going to be absolutely crushed when he finds out that you're declining."

"What am I going to be crushed about?" Ron appeared, kissed his girlfriend, and sat down next to her.

"That I've been offered the chance to try out for the Chudley Canons, but I'm turning it down."

"WHAT?!" Ron's mouth dropped open in shock, and the forkful of biscuits and gravy he'd been about to bite dropped onto the table with a splat. "I…You…What…How…?"

"Playing quidditch would be fun, but not right now," Harry explained. "I need to worry about school and doing well in my classes. I also have two daughters to raise. If I try out, and make it, then I'll be travelling a great deal. I'll be gone weekends for games, and have practices, and would probably have to get rid of my extracurricular classes. So what little time I spend with them now, would become even less. And I'm not willing to make that sacrifice yet. Maybe someday when they're older, and I'm done with school, and I've got my orphanage up and running, I'll reconsider it. But not right now."

"I understand," Ron sighed, nodding his head. "But…The Canons! I can't believe it."

"Sorry mate," Harry gave him friend a sympathetic look. "If it makes you feel any better, you can keep the letter they sent me. I think the captain signed it at the bottom."

"Really?" Ron took the letter and held it like it was a philosopher's stone, looking at it with reverence. "Blimey!"

"Thanks Harry," Hermione rolled her eyes. "Now all I'll hear for the rest of the day is 'Canons this', and 'Canons that'."

"Sorry Mione," Harry grinned, and turned back to his food as the rest of their year-mates came in and sat down around them.

"What's up with Ron?" Seamus asked curiously; Ron was still staring at the letter in amazement.

"In brief, Harry was invited to a Canon's try-out, and has decided to turn it down. He then gave his letter to Ron, who's ogling the captain's signature at the bottom," Hermione answered in a bored tone of voice.

"I'm surprised Ron didn't try to avada kedavra you when he found out," Seamus said to Harry.

"I know. Our little Ronniekins is growing up," mock-sniffed Harry. He stopped when Winky appeared with a pop, holding Rose, and handed her over, along with her diaper bag. Normally, Harry would've brought her down with him, but after the late night before, he didn't want to disturb her while she was sleeping. He took the fussing Rose, and promptly began feeding her a bottle.

"You know, as much as I've seen you with her, I don't know that I'll ever really get used to seeing you do that," Lavender sighed.

Harry looked up at her curiously. "Why not?"

"It just seems so surreal sometimes," her forehead wrinkled a bit as she tried to explain. "I mean, here you are, seventeen years old, with a baby! And not to mention the other one, Allyn. It's just…ugh…I don't really know how to say it."

"I think Lavender's getting at the fact that, for most of us, we think about graduating from Hogwarts, getting an apprenticeship or job somewhere, getting an apartment, dating, and someday, hopefully, getting married. _Then_ we start to consider the idea of having kids," Parvati explained, with Lavender nodding her head. "But you've got the baby, and adopted another, and you have a house, I think, I'm not sure, but anyways, you're so grown up sometimes. I guess we just forget that you're only the same age as us."

"I didn't ask for Rose, as much as I love her," Harry sighed, moving Rose to her shoulder to burp her. "And the only reason I have my houses, and I have several, is from my parents and my godfather. They're really homes that I'd rather not have, if it meant having all of them back with me. Lyn now, was all my doing. I arrived at King's Cross to see her being abused by the orphanage worker who'd brought her. I couldn't stand for that, and adopted her on the spot. Yeah, it mightn't of been the wisest decision, or the most thought-out, but I don't regret it for a minute."

"Really?" Lavender looked slightly skeptical, as did some of the others. "Not that I don't agree something should've been done, but why you? Like I said earlier, you're only our age. We're supposed to be dating, and having fun, and being teenagers, with our only problems being things like acne and studying for the NEWTS. When you saw what was happening to Allyn, you could've told someone, an adult, and let them handle it."

"Let's say I did that," said Harry slowly, fighting to keep his temper in check. "Let's say I told Professor Dumbledore. He might check into it, but there were no visible signs of abuse; most of it was verbal and emotional from what little Lyn has let slip. And she's so shy she wouldn't say a thing. I think the only reason she even tells me as little as she has is because I saw her get hit. Yeah, I could've told an adult, but from personal experience, they don't handle things well. I was left with my relatives, who were abusive, even if it wasn't horribly so. I told people though, and they didn't do anything. So excuse me, but if I see someone in trouble, you can bet I'm going to do all that I can to help!"

Harry's speech that had started off calmly, had ended with his voice raised, and temper barely in check. He was breathing heavily, and decidedly not looking his shocked friends in the eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I think I need some fresh air," he said tightly, and grabbing Rose's diaper bag, stood up and left the great hall, and headed outside and down to the lake's edge. He sat there on a rock, fuming, in silence.

"Hey," a soft voice cautiously called from behind him, and he turned to see Daphne. "Hi Daphne."

"Feel like talking about it?" She perched on the rock next to him, taking Rose from him.

"Not particularly," he shook his head, staring out at the giant squid who was sunning himself. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Harry suddenly pushed himself off the rock with a growl of annoyance.

"They don't understand! They were criticising my choice to adopt Lyn, and saying that I should've just told an adult. They just don't understand," Harry repeated.

"You're right, they don't understand," Daphne affirmed. "I can't say that I entirely do either, but perhaps I do a bit more than them. From the time most people are kids, they're brought up being told that when something goes wrong, you tell an adult. Kids shouldn't have to do anything but school, some chores, and have fun. You haven't had that luxury, Harry, and they have trouble remembering that. You were brought up in an abusive home, and when you did get out, you were thrust into this world where you're a celebrity. You defeated Voldemort once, and you were expected to keep fighting against him. That's not something a teenager should have to deal with."

"Well what about my decision to adopt Lyn? They seemed to think that was stupid."

"Maybe not stupid, but you have a saving-people thing. Don't get angry," she cautioned when he whirled about to look at her, mouth open to protest. "You know it, I know it, everyone knows it Harry. And there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, but you have to understand that you can't save everyone; it's not your job to. And that's going to be hard for you, since you've been pressured to do so in the past. But you don't need to be a hero anymore. You just need to be Harry; a friend, a student, a father, a boyfriend, and a typical teenager, as much as you can."

Harry stood quietly, just taking in everything she'd said. Together for an hour, and she already seemed to understand him, and know just what to say to him. "How do you know all this? How'd you know just what to say to make me calm down and think rationally?"

"My older brother, Damon, was a lot like you, at least when it came to brooding and being upset. He'd get angry about something before taking the time to completely think it through. I was the only one who could get him to really think about things, and try to understand what exactly was being said. Just like you. Now that you've thought it through, your friends' opinions make more sense, don't they? Especially when you take into consideration the fact that they've never had to be so independent as you. That's where I can relate to you; having no one but Draco to rely on these last several months has made me grow up a fair amount."

Harry moved back to sit beside her, giving her a smile as he took Rose back. "Thank you," he said softly. "I don't know if I like having someone else who understands me so well. Usually it's Hermione playing the voice of reason. I'm sorry about your brother. Were you two close?"

"In some ways," she shrugged slightly. "He was fifteen years older than me. I was the result of a drunken romp between my parents, and certainly not planned. They had my brother to carry on the name, and inherit the family estate. I was a mere nuisance, though as they realised I was going to be pretty, they began planning out to how best use me as a bartering piece. Damon joined the death eaters while still in school, not long before Voldemort's demise. He loved the dark arts; their power, their subtle seduction, and the terror they instilled in others. Damon wasn't a kind person, but he adored me, and was a wonderful big brother, and I loved him very much."

"Well I'm glad you have fond memories of him," Harry tucked Rose into his left arm, and wrapped him right arm around Daphne, pulling her against his side in a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he leaned his head on top of hers. They were enjoying the comfortable silence, when a flash startled them, and they sat up to see nothing. Harry pulled out his wand, and a quick _finite incantatem _revealed a photographer and reporter in front of them. The reporter was furiously jotting notes down, and the photographer was snapping more photos, even as they started running away from the obviously angry Harry.

"Bloody reporters," he scowled, and raised his wand again.

"Harry," Daphne grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "Stop. You're holding Rose, and they're not worth the effort. Besides, we have class to get to; charms starts in fifteen minutes."

"I don't want you to have to deal with the press." Harry was still scowling as the reporter and photographer reached the edge of school property, and disapparated away.

"I knew it would happen eventually. I just hoped that we'd have a little more time before dealing with it, but I'll be fine. _We'll_ be fine. Let's get to class."

* * *

Sure enough, the next morning, the Daily Prophet's front page had a picture of Harry and Daphne and the headline read 'Harry Potter's New Flame'. The accompanying article contained a few details about the conversation they'd been having, speculation about when they'd gotten together, and then there were several pages that detailed all the old relationship gossip on Harry; everything from Cho to the old rumors from during the Triwizard Tournament. It wasn't long before the entirety of the school knew, and classmates were coming over to ask Harry whether it was true or not. They would've asked Daphne, but Draco was casually polishing his wand, glaring at anyone who came within ten feet of him and Daphne. Blaise and Tracey were also seated nearby, as well as a few of the younger students, adding to the intimidation factor.

"Harry, are you really dating that Slytherin?" A Ravenclaw sixth year asked; he was a small, wiry, boy, who loved to gossip more than Lavender and Parvati, if that was possible. Harry and Daphne had talked about how they would respond to the inquiries. They'd agreed that they wouldn't outright deny it, but neither would they admit to it.

"That Slytherin is Daphne Greengrass, and it's not really any of your business, is it?" Harry stared the boy down, causing him to gulp and look slightly chastised, though he wasn't to be deterred.

"Well it's all over the front of the post, which makes it the whole world's business," he persisted.

"That does _not_ make it the whole world's business," Harry slammed his fist down on the table, startling his friends, and the other who were around. He could see Allyn and her friends look frightened at that, and he forced himself to calm down. "Just because I defeated Voldemort, that does not mean that everyone in the magical world is entitled to know if I'm dating, where I go, and every other aspect of my life. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah," the boy nodded, then paused. "So are you dating?"

"Get out of here you idiot," Ron had had enough. He grabbed the boy by his arms and physically lifted him up and away from the table, giving him a shove before sitting back down, glaring at the crowds. "Anyone else have any more stupid questions to ask?" The students shook their heads and quickly went back to their own tables, leaving Harry with some degree of peace.

"Thank you," Harry gratefully looked at Ron.

"Sure thing mate," Ron nodded, grinning cheerfully. "So is the post right? Are you two dating?"

"Not you too!" Harry groaned, dropping his head onto his arms after seeing the inquisitively looks of his friends, sans Hermione.

"He is, but they only got together yesterday morning, so it's very new to the both of them," Hermione answered for him, her eyes on the book in front of her.

"How'd you know?" Ron nudged his girlfriend until she looked up at him, exasperated.

"He told me yesterday; I believer his exact words were 'I'm courting Daphne'," Hermione answered, then went back to her book.

"Courting?" Lavender's brow furrowed in thought. "Isn't that the old-fashioned term for dating?"

"Yeah, but a lot of the old families and pureblood families still follow the old traditions," Ron answered her around a mouthful of eggs. "Not all the traditions of course, cause some of them are just stupid nowadays, so people really just pick and choose."

"So what rules are you picking Harry?" Parvati asked.

"Not that many, cause the whole thing is kind of awkward and unnatural feeling," Harry explained. "I asked permission to court her, and I gave her flowers with different meanings. That's all really."

"That's sweet," Lavender smiled.

"I thought Daphne was an orphan?" Ron spoke up.

"She is," Harry nodded.

"Then who'd you get permission from to court her? I mean, usually you'd ask the father, or if there's no father, then a grandfather, or uncle, or male legal guardian."

"How do you know so much about that?" Harry asked, curious.

"Well I had to get permission to date Hermione, didn't I?"

"You asked my father?" Hermione looked up from her book, surprised.

"Well of course, just like I will whenever I want to propose to you," Ron said it so matter-of-factly. "But back to my question Harry, who'd you ask?"

"Malfoy. They're best friends, and all the family the other has really, so I asked him."  
"And he said yes?!"

"Sort of. He gave me permission to ask Daphne out, and to leave it up to her."

"Oh. Well congrats mate," Ron grinned.

"Thanks," Harry grinned back. "We'll see how things go."

* * *

Classes passed uneventfully; Professor Snape surprised everyone with a pop quiz. Harry actually felt confident about his answers, though he knew it wouldn't be an outstanding grade. Hermione probably scored a perfect grade, though she spent all of DADA dithering about one question that she was sure she had forgotten to add some inconsequential (to anyone else) detail to. Ron finally shut her up by kissing her soundly, to which everyone laughed at before heading to lunch.

"**Harry**," Duchess appeared next to him with a pop.

"**Hey Duchess, I haven't seen you for a while**," Harry greeted her, ignoring the gasps and whispers that always came when he spoke parseltongue.

"**Places to go, other familiars to see**," she curled herself around him. "**I've been checking in on you and the little ones though, don't worry**."

"**I wasn't worried about that, just about you, though I know you can take care of your self**."

"_Harry…_," Lavender nearly whined, hiding her face against Dean's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but she's really freaking me out."

"All right, let me just finish up real quick and see what she needs," Harry assured her, and turned back to his familiar. "**Sorry, but Lavender's scared of you. What do you need? Or would you rather just come to my room later after my singing class?**"

"**I don't need anything, just wanted to say hello. I'll come to your room tonight though to chat.**"

"**All right, see you Duchess,**" Harry bid her farewell, and after she gave him a squeeze, she unwound herself from him, gave a playful hiss at Lavender who shrieked, and then left the great hall.

"Snakes…I don't like snakes," Lavender shuddered. "What did she want?"

"Just checking in. She's been AWOL lately; we're gonna talk more tonight…don't worry, she'll be coming directly to my room, so you won't have to see her."

"Good."

"If it'll make you feel better, I'll ask her if she can try not to pop in when you're around. I can't promise she'll agree though."

"I'd appreciate it," she smiled gratefully at him before turning back to Dean.

Dinner started winding down, and those with an early class began heading out. Harry bid most of his friends good-bye, as they headed off to their classes. He glanced down at his daughter, who was happily waving a fist. Looking at the plate of pie in front of him that he hadn't finished, he dipped a finger in the sweet cream that'd covered it, and then put it in her mouth for her to taste. She sucked at it happily, and when she'd had it all, he dipped his finger in it again for her once more.

"That's enough of that, sweetheart," he grinned when, after he pulled out his finger, her mouth kept moving, as if looking for more. "I don't want your stomach getting upset."

"How's my favorite little runt?" Draco and Daphne appeared and sat down on either side of him. Daphne leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips; their first, and only a small one, but Harry was amazed by the sensations…fireworks really…that occurred. He also loved the fact that the kiss was so natural, with none of the awkwardness that had been between him and Cho.

"She's good, getting bigger everyday," Harry laughed, handing her over to him.

"She is not," Draco pretended to look affronted as he cradled her in his arms. "She's absolutely perfect just as she is."

"You're always a sucker for a pretty face," Daphne teased, laughing as she did.

"Then I wonder why I always seem to give in to you?" Draco shot back, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

Harry rested his elbows on the table as he watched the two of them shoot insults and quips back and forth for several minutes. Only when Draco mentioned a rather crude term did he intervene, telling him to watch his language around Rose. Draco was instantly contrite, and apologising to Rose; something that had Harry amazed, as it was definitely out of character for Draco.

"I don't know that I'll every completely get used to you being nice," he sighed, shaking his head.

"Too bad," he shrugged and stuck his tongue out, in another move that was decidedly un-Malfoyish.

"Come on you two, don't start," laughed Daphne as she stood up. "We should start heading to choir class."

Draco kept hold of Rose, and started for the doorway, Harry and Daphne behind him. Daphne gave Harry a shy smile as she linked her fingers through his. Harry smiled back, loving the contact, amazed at how everything was going. He had two beautiful daughters that he was learning to be a father to. He was back at Hogwarts, which was home to him, and classes were going well. The Halloween dance was coming up, and then it would only be a while till Christmas, and he couldn't wait to spoil Rose and Lyn. He had a lovely girlfriend who he was beginning to care for greatly, and even if he didn't know what the future was going to bring beyond graduation, he was perfectly content to let fate play out as it should.

…

Fin

…

* * *

A/N: Okay…That's the end. I know I'm going to get a dozen reviews complaining about the abruptness of the ending, or asking for a sequel/continuation. As of right now, the answer is no. Life is going to be crazy for me for the next several months. I'm going to Spain for six weeks to study-abroad (with no computer), then when I come back I have a week before college starts. This fall will be my senior year, and while I'm taking a lighter course load, I'm also starting my job as a substitute teacher. Story-wise, I won't be able to keep any kind of regular schedule for updates; I don't even know how much time I'll have to write, what with papers and all. This story has also been a challenge for me; as a writer, I like to set tasks for myself with each story, so I can grow as a writer. For this story, my 'task' was the odd use (for me) of Harry Potter as the main character. I tend to prefer Hermione/Snape/Weasley Twin as one of the main characters. I've found that even though I've enjoyed some parts, overall, this story hasn't been a particularly fun one for me. Now for the 'ending'. I know it's abrupt, and that no one probably saw it coming, but there you go; I've explained my reasons for why I did. The way it stands now leaves it nicely open for your imagination; you can picture the ball (a cliché I was hesitant to write), Christmas, Graduation, whether or not he stays with Daphne, his future, etc. I know some don't like that sort of ending, but you'll have to forgive me. Over the next several months, when I have time, if any, I'll probably start jotting down ideas for a Hermione/Fred fic. I've also been toying around with the alternate ending for "Playing Pretend" where Hermione does marry Percy, and Ginny ends up with Snape. But more likely it'll be Hermione and Fred. But don't look for anything till January. With all that said, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, and enjoyed! I appreciate it so much!


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